12 Little HiME and 5 others
by megarockman78
Summary: Inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. The HiME gang go on a free vacation, but it seems someone's got less benevolent ideas about it. Several pairings and triangles.
1. Prologue

_Greetings, everyone. The other fic wasn't going too well for me, so I've decided to step back from it and work on another idea I had. Hopefully this time it'll be better._

_11/26/07_

* * *

"Is everything prepared?" one shadowy figure said to another in a darkened room. 

"Almost. The invitations still need to be sent out," the second replied.

"Why are you so slow in doing these things?" a third asked.

"Well, I'm sorry for considering my actual life to have some importance!"

"Calm down," a fourth gestured. "It doesn't matter that she didn't send them out anyway: I made some last-minute changes to the guest list." The rustling of paper followed.

"Why are all our names on the list?"

"Makes for a great mystery set-up, no?"

"True, true."

"This is going to be great."

"Oh, yes. It will be to _die_ for."

The rustling of clothing and the sounds of light punches thrown echoed as three of the four left the room. "That is such an awful joke!"

"Yes," the fourth one muttered. "It is indeed." A devilish smile crawled upon the face.

* * *

_This is just a teaser: the real story will begin next chapter. Shall I continue?_


	2. Chapter 1

_The story begins in earnest. Enjoy. My-HiME is property of Sunrise._

* * *

"Now THIS is a way to spend summer break," Mai said, lounging in a lawn chair in her bikini with a tall glass of ice tea in her hand. The cruise was indeed something to be enjoyed on this fine day; sunny andwarm, yet not overbearingly hot. Mai had won the grand prize in a contest from one of those lottery things in front of a supermarket while shopping one day for food for Mikoto, which was a trip for four to a brand-new island manor. She had originally planned to bring just herself, Mikoto, Natsuki, and was pondering over a fourth when Shizuru and Chie found out separately. Much asking, begging, and threatening later, somehow a total of sixteen people (seventeen if one counted Miyu) got on the trip: 

- Shizuru had smooth-talked and blushed Natsuki enough into getting the last official slot.  
- Chie overheard and told Aoi, who spilled it to Nao. Nao was on the trip because the police had been cracking down on peverts, but Chie and Aoi already had prior plans. When it was pointed out that only four slots were available, "grants" from both the Fujino and Suzushiro family's corporations ensured enough spots for all that wanted to come.  
- Tate wanted to come along, and Mai had initially planned on giving him the last spot, but was concerned of how Shiho would react to being _onii-chan-less_. Both of them ended up coming.  
- Takumi, now recovered from heart surgery, came along at his sister's request. He brought his all-but-official girlfriend Akira along (whom neither Fujino nor Suzushiro had to pay for, as Akira's ninja clan insisted on paying their own way.)  
- Haruka came along because her family was "footing" part of the bill (mostly so Shizuru didn't get all the credit). Yukino came along as well because by this point many people she knew were already going, though Haruka was the nail in the coffin.  
- Reito initially was reluctant to go because he didn't want to leave the Fuuka Univeristy Student Council unmanned (the upperclassmen on the council had pretty much turned tail before summer break started), but was eventually convinced through a desire to make up to the gang and Mikoto's pleading.  
- Kazuya was called back home because two of his grandparents were in the hospital. Akane had initially planned to join him, but Kazuya said that it was alright and that she didn't need to sacrifice her summer break for him. After a departing scene at the airport so cheesy not even Hollywood would use it, Akane managed to catch the gang just as they were leaving.  
- Sister Yukariko, on the other hand, could really use the time away from Fuuka Academy. She and the art teacher Ishigami-sensei had a particularly bad argument after the baby was born, and although the relationship isn't dead, it's not looking good (even Nao knew better than to make fun of the situation). Both of them agreed that some time off would be best to calm them down. Ishigami agreed to look after their baby while Yukariko went on the trip.  
- The Sister took both Alyssa and Miyu along to keep an eye on them as well as at the behest of several former HiME in an effort to expand their circle of friends.  
- Finally, Midori came along as well "because you guys need an adult supervisor." When it was pointed out that there were several people already over 18, and when Mikoto had innocently said, "But Midori-chan is 17…right?", Midori threatened to make their tests insanely-hard, not share her archeology trip experiences, and not help smuggle them into bars.

So that was how being unable to pick a fourth person ended up hauling twelve (thirteen) others. Mai sighed. Slaying the Obsidian Lord aside, one of these days this indecision was going to be the death of her.

"What's the sighing for?" Natsuki, who was in the chair next to hers and also in a bikini (plus a pair of Ray-Bans) "This is a vacation. I'm grateful the company allowed us to avoid a particularly bad situation."

"I'll be honest, Natsuki, I was surprised they would allow the others to be paid for by us."

"Well, why not? Shizuru did sign a waiver that would bill the Fujino Company for any excessive damage."

"I guess." Mai laughed. "Did you see the reaction on Haruka's face when she found out about the insurance deal?"

"No, and I'm sorry I missed it." Natsuki joined Mai in their bemusement at yet another victory by Shizuru over Haruka. "At least it drove her to secure this ship for us."

"Mai, I'm hungry," Mikoto whined, accompanied by Takumi and Akira. "When's lunch?"

"Yeah, _onee-chan. _Didn't you promise to help me make lunch?" Takumi asked.

"I said we'd start at 10:45, didn't we."

"Uh, it's 11:30," Akira said matter-of-factly.

Mai sat up quickly when she looked at Akira's watch. "Oh my God! I need to hurry!" She got up and ran down the deck, Mikoto and Takumi not far behind.

Natsuki sighed in resignation. "Oh, Mai, when will you learn to take a vacation as a time to rest?"

"I don't think she knows what 'taking a break' means," Akira added.

"Hey, Mai!" Midori called. "Don't run on a ship, it's dangerous!"

"But I'm late making lunch!" Mai shouted as she dashed past.

"Oh," Midori said, briefly pausing over this quandary. "Then speed-walk!"

"Is she seriously going to chaperone us like that?" Natsuki asked, lifting up her shades.

"Looks like it," Nao replied, who was seated to the side of Natsuki, also in a bathing suit. "Though I think it could be worse. If that other adult here was in charge, we wouldn't even be able to sit out here like this."

"True." The three of them watched as Mai, at the far end of the ship, presumably asked Haruka (who was playing shuffleboard with Yukino) where the kitchen was on the _Shouri Maru_. Haruka's response, which they could all hear even above the noise of the ship's engines, confirmed their suspicions: "First, why are you so late when you promised everyone? Second, it's called the gallery."

"She means 'galley'," Akira noted. A brief pause in the ranting suggested Yukino caught it as well.

"Third, you passed by it on your way here!" An embarrassed Mai returned a short distance before entering inside the ship.

"Mai's little brother's gotten much better now, hasn't he?" Natsuki asked. "He kept up pretty well with her."

"Yeah. I'm glad the operation worked out well."

"Same here." Natsuki and Akira were surprised by Nao's comment. "What? Do I have suntan lotion on my face?"

"Well, no, it's just that…" Akira started to say, then trailed off.

Nao figured out what she was trying to get at. "Oh, that. Look, I said I was sorry already. I was pissed off because I had no one to help me out while others did, and I really don't-"

"Enough, Nao," Natsuki said, her hands motioning Nao to calm down. "We've been through this already. Everyone's sorry for what happened already. Everyone's forgiven each other already."

"I don't think everyone." Nao glanced in the direction of Shizuru, Reito, Akane, Tate, Shiho, and the Sister, who were all playing Monopoly. Or rather, Searrs-produced "Monopoly v2.0", since Alyssa the banker was charging 6.21 percent adjustable interest on 1-year mortgages and Miyu was running a derivatives market and other economic simulations with her internal computer (with assistance from Yukino's laptop for cool-looking graphics). Most of the players took the faux-seriousness in fun, though Akane (who wasn't doing too well because of a "random event": a hurricane wrecking half of her houses) had a real serious look on her face.

"Oh, come now. Even if that was the case, it's not a good reason. Everyone will come to terms."

Akira made a move to patch things up. "Speaking of which, you visited your mom before we left, right? How is she doing?"

"Still has to sleep most of the day, though the nurses told me she's up to an hour and a half of awareness."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Nao turned her attention to a passing cloud. "You know one of my fondest memories of my mom is the two of us riding the ferry in Tokyo? Whenever her schedule allowed it, she'd personally take me to school on the ferry even though it was more expensive and I could take the subway. It'd just be the two of us, me going to elementary school and she working in the hospital nearby."

"I see why you care for your mom so much," Natsuki said.

"Yeah…Can't say the same about yours, though."

"Yeah…but it's alright. I've learned to deal with it."

Nao smirked. "Good for you."

Silence fell upon the pair as Akira had already snuck away to find a solitary corner to meditate. Natsuki went to take a sip of Mai's ice tea when came: "Ara, Natsuki's crush is Mai-san, now?" Natsuki hurriedly grabbed her straw from her own empty glass, knocking it over in the process, and tried to drink with that one. "Natsuki is so naughty for sneaking around like that," Shizuru continued to tease, making it even harder for the already-flustered Natsuki to drink normally.

"Shi-Shizuru!" Natsuki said finally when she gave up trying to use a straw.

Nao had chuckled at Natsuki's expense, though it went away when she saw Shizuru's face peering down on Natsuki's head. "Weren't you playing Monopoly?" she asked.

"I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this, now, could I?" Shizuru replied. "Besides, Suigiura-sensei is running in my place."

"You know you just forfeited by doing that, right?"

"Maybe. But even if I lose my empire, at least I have my princess." Shizuru grasped Natsuki's neck from behind despite her stuttered protests. Nao just looked on and said with a shrug, "OK, then." She got up and decided to check out just how the game of Monopoly was playing out. There was only so much romantic stuff she could take.

Nao knew it wasn't good when she heard Midori moan, "Aw, man, that riot really cost me." She peered over Midori's shoulder and saw the sad state of the Fujino Conglomerate. "Remind me never to go into business with you," she commented.

"Shut up," Midori retorted. "Like it was my fault the prospector's report on the gold deposits turned out to be inaccurate."

"Please. Even I know better than to stake all your assets on one risky gamble."

"Not like you can do better," Midori said.

"In all fairness," Tate said, "she staked about half."

"Whatever. I'll bet I can do better than you."

"Deal. Loser has to serve everyone drinks dressed as a Hawaiian girl."

Miyu raised an eyebrow at how to deal with this situation, but Alyssa told her to just split Midori's assets evenly. The game went on, eventually attracting everyone's attention besides Mai, Mikoto, and Takumi as Midori had turned things around and Nao proved quite adept in speculating in the stock market.

"Have you thought about going into business, Yuuki-san?" Reito asked.

"It's a little too dishonest for me," Nao replied. Most people figured Nao was being facetious, though Yukariko thought that maybe her time as a nun was having an effect.

Later on Shiho had somehow managed to be the "victim" of a hostile takeover by Tate's company despite Tate's wish not to do so. The fate of Shiho was now being his personal secretary.

"Damn you, board of directors!" Tate muttered. "Now I got all these useless debts to pay off."

"It's what you get for being the biggest one," Akane said, noting the smirk on Shiho's face.

Time went on, and the competition between Midori and Nao grew pretty fierce. They would frequently end up in bidding wars over the same pieces of property. Midori would repeatedly get hammered by alcohol laws and criminals breaking into her liquor stores, and Nao's speculating on Wall Street would come back to bite her repeatedly. Shizuru and Haruka were eventually brought in as advisors by Nao and Midori, respectively, adding even more to their expenses while the others reaped the benefits. It all came to a head when both the Fujino Conglomerate and the Yuuki Holding Company both went bankrupt on the same turn (incidentally, because of lawyer fees over a contested land claim).

"So…what does this mean?" Midori asked.

"Both of you dress up!" Tate proclaimed, to various amounts of laughter. Shiho sent a death glare at him when she saw his maybe-lecherous expression.

"What?!" both of them protested.

"The deal was that the loser had to dress up as hula girls and serve everyone else drinks, right?" Reito asked.

"And since both of you lost the game…" Shizuru continued.

"Both of you must fulfill the requirements of the contract," Miyu finished.

Nao and Midori tried to protest when the chefs came out. "Lunch is ready!" Mikoto proclaimed. Everyone got up, still chuckling. "What's wrong with them?" Mai asked, pointing to the two losers.

"They lost a bet and have to dress up as hula girls," Natsuki explained.

"I'll get the grass skits," Haruka said.

"Skirts," Yukino corrected.

"I got the coconut tops!" Akane said, to which everyone looked at her weird. "What?"

"What are _you_ doing with coconut tops?" Mai asked.

"Actually, I have empty coconuts from before and some rope."

"Ohhh…" everyone went, understanding what Akane meant.

"What about the leis and stuff?" Mai asked. Several people couldn't come up with anything. "Thank God," Nao and Midori muttered.

"Oh, I know! We can just make them from some old clothes," Takumi said. Most others were receptive to the idea. Nao and Midori just had their hopes crushed. Everyone went inside into the shade and the waiting food. All except for one, who stood in the doorway just outside. "This is turning out well so far. I hope things continue like this."

"Hey! Are you going to make Mikoto wait for her food?!" Mai called.

That would not be a good idea, she thought. "Coming!"

* * *

_Please R&R. I'd appreciate no flaming._


	3. Chapter 2

_Considering I got nearly twice the reviews with 1/10 the number of words, I think I'll stick with this fic for now. Quick update, but next one will likely take some time. Still exposition, but with 17 characters, what do you expect?  
_

_I'd like to note that the title is supposed to be "12 Little HiME (+ 5 others)", but the system won't recognize any symbols other than the hyphen._

_Thanks to all who gave a review. Special thanks to Naolin for catching the mistake about Akane's boyfriend._

_Again, My-HiME is Sunrise's._

_11/27/07_

* * *

Everyone enjoyed the great lunch prepared by Mai and her two assistants. Sure, it was just paninis, but Mai knew how to please the eye and the tongue. ("In more ways than one for Yuichi," Nao would joke later.) Few present didn't notice Natsuki wasting no time getting back at Shizuru for her earlier teasing. Natsuki made plenty sure Shizuru saw her spread far too much mayonnaise in her food. The verbal sparring that followed provided much entertainment for all. 

For Yukariko, it was a pleasant distraction. She still wore her habit even on vacation (she wouldn't dare be caught dead wearing something as skimpy as a two-piece). But other than admonishing others (especially Nao) for using the occasional swear word around virgin ears, she really wasn't in any mood to be a rule-enforcer. Between admonishments from the Archdioceses of Tokyo over her affair outside of marriage and the array of conflicts with Ishigami over the nature of their relationship, she would much rather use the time to recollect herself for when she returned and faced him again. She had snapped one day while posing for a portrait at Ishigami's art studio, and the shouting attracted a lot of attention from faculty (it was only by good fortune that school was off for Golden Week, and the only students that caught wind of it were on the Student Council). Come to think of it, Yukariko was certainly blessed in only getting admonished for breaking something as crucial as her sisterly vows. She suspected someone on the Council had pulled strings for her, though she didn't have any idea who. Yukariko was also secure in knowing that her Megumi was in safe hands. For all of Ishigami's faults, she knew that at heart he was a good man, and that he would not allow any harm to come to her – _their_ – daughter.

"Hey, Sister," Midori said. The hand on her shoulder shook Yukariko from her thoughts. "Something wrong?"

"Not really, no," she replied. "Simply enjoying being around friends."

"Guess there's nothing wrong with that." The two of them looked towards the group, specifically at Alyssa and Miyu near the edge. "Still some growing pains, I see?"

"Indeed. Though earlier when we were playing Monopoly they seemed to fit in pretty well."

"If you consider taking over the game as God 'fitting in', I'd agree." The two of them laughed while Midori took a sip of her drink. Yukariko became curious. "What kind of drink is that?"

"Piña Colada."

"Eh? I thought this ship didn't have anything alcoholic on it."

"It doesn't. This is a virgin piña colada."

"What does that mean?"

"No rum in it. You learn new things overseas."

"Ah, I see. Trying to set a good example for the children?"

"More like I'm not entirely satisfied yet that these guys will be fine without me. Don't want to put the entire burden on you if something comes up and I'm gone."

"I appreciate it."

"No problem." Midori's attention briefly went back to Alyssa and Miyu. While they were enjoying the spectacle of either the continuing verbal duel between Natsuki and Shizuru or the eating contest between Mikoto and the tag team of Reito and Tate, they were merely observing, never getting actively involved for so much as cheering on someone. "You sure they going to be alright?" Midori asked.

"Maturation is not something that should be rushed. Alyssa has had the misfortune of having hers rushed. She is a very brilliant girl, but she has virtually no idea how to interact with her peers."

"No one here is her age, though."

"It is not about age so much as who she can identify with. Right now, us former HiME are the ones she can associate the most with. Before Alyssa can be ready to step out into the world, she needs to start here."

"So why not make her become involved more? She's been clinging to that robot like her life depends on it."

"In a sense, it does, at least to her. Miyu is the only real companion she's ever had, and I don't believe her emotional psyche is ready to stop leaning on her for support. Too soon, and the damage can be devastating."

"But Alyssa needs to be free of those training wheels sooner or later, right?"

"I do agree, Sugiura-sensei. I will provide a push when I think it appropriate. But the satisfaction of learning something is greatest when one does it by oneself, yes?"

"I guess so." Midori looked at Miyu, who never strayed far from Alyssa's side. "How's she taking this?" she asked, motioning to the android.

"She already knows the time is coming when Alyssa will no longer lean on her, and she understands that that is best."

"Huh. Didn't think robots were even capable of doing something like that."

"It surprised me too. She told me one night after Alyssa had gone to bed. She admitted that, as an android, she wasn't fully capable of understanding human emotions, but that she did care very much for Alyssa. She did express concern about what would happen once that day came. Miyu seemed almost…afraid. It was one of the few times I had forgotten that Miyu was made, not born."

"Wow. Technology is amazing."

"Indeed."

"Hey," Nao said, interrupting the two. The rest of the group had more or less paused their doings to see this. "Don't mean to interrupt your pondering about the meaning of life–"

"It's 42."

Nao paused, not knowing just how many drinks Midori has had since the trip began. "Anyway, it's time to change, and I'm sure as hell not doing this without you too."

"Aw, do I have to?" Midori whined. Several of them laughed, even though they knew that would have been Midori's response.

"Yes, Midori-chan, you have to. A promise is a promise," admonished Mai.

"Set a good example for them," Yukariko suggested.

"All right, all right." Midori got up. "Keep your head up," she said to the sister. "You'll be a great mom."

"Thank you." With that, Midori and Nao walked down death row, with Mai and Akane escorting them. Tate pretended to play taps on a bugle to much laughter, to which Nao (when seeing the Sister's back turned) gave him the finger before disappearing behind the corner.

"Hey, why did Midori say the answer to the meaning of life is 42? Isn't it a really unlucky number?" Mikoto asked.

"Who said that?" Natsuki asked.

"My grandpa. He said it is a very bad number." (_A/N: 4 in Japanese is shi, 2 is ni. Though one would say forty-two as "yon juu ni", "shi ni" can also mean "going to death"._)

"Oh, please. My apartment number is 413. The last two digits on my Ducati's license plate are 5 and 2 (4 times 13). I should be many times as unlucky."

"You can't be serious!" Shiho said in disbelief.

"Ara, Natsuki is quite contemptuous of fate," Shizuru added.

"Yeah, are you trying to get misfortune placed on your head?" Akira asked.

"Good grief, I'm surrounded by superstitious idiots," Natsuki said in resignation. She sat down at a table, holding her face in her hands, while the others broke up into separate conversations once again.

Later, everyone was inside the ship's lounge while hula girls Nao and Midori came in and began serving various tropical drinks. Those that had cameras or camera phones began taking pictures of the two of them like it was a photo shoot for a couple of supermodels.

"Oh, man, Chie and Aoi are going to be so pissed when they find out they missed this!" Mai exclaimed.

"You wouldn't dare!" Nao said. She was quite irritated at the prospect of having so many embarrassing shots floating around.

"Aw, come on, Nao. Midori seems to be enjoying herself." Sure enough, when Nao turned to look at Midori, she was virtually bathing in the spotlight. No way could someone come up with so many poses in such a short time – Nao suspected Midori secretly wanted to lose the bet just so she would have an excuse to do this. "Let her enjoy herself in her own way, 'cause that ain't how I do it."

"Suit yourself." Mai continued to take pictures of Nao anyway over her protests. Nao resigned herself to her fate (she was outnumbered 15 to 1) and began subtly posing for shots. Her attracting the attention of some of the others didn't go unnoticed by Midori, who began to redouble her own efforts to win the crowd back. One thing led to another, and eventually…

"Wait, where did this pose-off come from?" Natsuki asked.

"Who knows and, honestly, who cares?" Reito replied. "It's quite enjoyable."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Given the nature of Nao and Midori, few were surprised (but most were pleased) when insults began to be hurled.

"Having a bit of a mid-life crisis, I see."

"That wouldn't impress a geek!"

"Resorting to that? Come now, surely someone with your experience can do better!"

The fun ended when the captain of the ship came on the intercom. "_Um, I hate to interrupt your impromptu exotic dancing girl contest, but we're a few minutes from docking at the port. You'll probably want to gather your belongings and prepare for docking. As for you two, you might want to change out of those things if you don't want to leave a poor first impression on your hosts._" The disappointment was evident among the gang as Nao and Midori walked out to change back. Nao wasn't so disappointed: "That rope can really grate on your skin."

Natsuki looked out the window at the approaching dock while continuing to sip on her mix of cranberry and grapefruit juice plus peach nectar, idly wondering how they had managed to find those three ingredients. "That was a rather interesting turn of events, ne?" Shizuru asked.

"Quite."

"Yuuki-san seemed quite into it."

"Yeah, I know. Rather unusual, really. I didn't think she'd be willing to do that kind of thing."

"I think it was because of Sugiura-sensei. It appears the two of them always want to out-compete the other."

"Great. Are we going to have another competition like you and Haruka?"

"Competition?" Shizuru asked innocently. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"You know, the fact that – ohh…." Natsuki said. "Dissing others, Shizuru? Maybe you've been hanging around us too much."

"It's the price I pay for hanging around you," Shizuru replied with a hug around Natsuki's neck. This time Natsuki didn't resist like earlier on the deck.

From another part of the room, Tate and Reito were observing the developing scene. "Lovebirds are at it again," Tate noted, taking the last sip of his Sprite.

"Indeed so."

"You ever going to find a girl?"

"Maybe someday. But for now, Mikoto's the only girl I need in my life." Tate raised an eyebrow at that statement, to which Reito quickly clarified, "I mean as siblings."

"Yeah, yeah. You're right, though. You guys really haven't had much of a chance to be like real siblings have you?"

"What about you? Are you ever going to make your move?"

"About what?"

"You know very well about what."

Just then Shiho came up. "_Onii-chan_, help me carry my luggage, please?" Tate sighed and Reito gave a look of sympathy. As Tate began to leave, Reito mouthed a "Good luck" to Tate, to which he nodded.

During this time, someone witnessed what had just transpired. "It's worse than I thought," she said softly to herself. "It was a good decision, then, to make those changes." No one else heard her, though, as the ship had docked and everyone was clamoring to disembark and transfer to the boats that will take them to their destination.

* * *

_Again, please R&R._


	4. Chapter 3

_Thanks for your patience. I got finals coming up next week, so if I'm on here reading/writing, I shouldn't._

_I know it's still slow, but next chapter things should start to pick up. _

_Again, My-HiME is Sunrise's._

_12/01/07_

* * *

"Huh? I'm a little confused," Akane said when the speedboat she was on reached the island. With seventeen guests, three boats were needed to transport everyone, their luggage, and sufficient supplies over the 3-hour boat ride to the island. What confused Akane was that there was nobody waiting for them on the island itself, and she was on the first boat. "Excuse me sir, do you know where our hosts are?" she asked the pilot of the speedboat. 

"Sorry to say I don't. We're just contracted out by our company."

"Then do you know who hired you?"

"Sorry, ma'am, don't know that either. I didn't bother to ask my boss before we left."

"All right, thanks anyway." Akane pondered over this while the pilot navigated the boat to the dock. "Hey, which boat was Mai on?" she asked the others on her boat.

"She's on the last one," replied Nao. Akane turned around and was surprised to see only one other boat behind them. Mai wasn't on it. "Where's the last boat?" Akane asked out loud. Everyone on board turned around and were also surprised to find the third boat missing.

"Hang on, let me check," the pilot said. "_Flyer 3_, this is _Flyer 1_, come in." No response. "_Flyer 3_, come in." Again, no response. Conversations stopped as the people on the boat began to worry. "_Flyer 3_, please come in." Static. The pilot changed channels. "Base, this is _Flyer 1_."

"_Flyer 1, base. Go ahead."_

"Uh, requesting status and location of _Flyer 3_. We seemed to have lost her somehow."

"_One moment, Flyer 1._" A moment passed. "What if something happened to them?" Yukino asked.

"Don't worry. Mai's a certified lifeguard, remember? Even if worst comes to worst, they'll be fine," Haruka reassured her.

"_Flyer 1, this is base._" All talking stopped in a hurry.

"Copy, go ahead."

"_Flyer 3's still afloat, but reported some engine and radio trouble. Coast Guard is en route to assist them._" Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. "Roger, base. Thanks for letting us know," the pilot responded.

"_No problem, Flyer 1._"

"That's good," Yukino sighed in relief.

"Yeah," Midori replied. "Though I do wonder what happened to them."

"Who knows?" Akane replied. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

The two other boats docked and unloaded without incident, though much of the conversation centered on either what had happened to Mai's boat or the no-show of their hosts. Akane's thoughts were focused on the latter. It was rather rude for the hosts to not be ready for their guests, wasn't it? Nao also did find it odd, although she wasn't too upset about it because it meant she didn't need to put up a show. "Ah, well, I'm sure there's a good reason for their late arrival," she concluded. "There has been some pretty bad weather in Japan lately anyway." With that thought to go on, Akane returned to the group and helped the others transfer their belongings to the front porch.

Once the transfer of luggage and supplies of the twelve who had already arrived was complete, people began goofing around the outside of the mansion (which was locked since Mai had the keys). Nao was busy trying to pick various locks, both for the doors to the mansion as well as for several padlocked sheds. The mansion doors proved formidable, since Nao didn't have a proper set of lock picking tools and had to resort to random pieces of metal (read: a hairpin swiped from Akane). Nao had more success with the padlocks, which was a delight to Midori since the first shed she opened revealed a fully-stocked wine cellar. Predictably, Midori spent much of her time in there organizing the order that she will drink.

Meanwhile, a group consisting of Natsuki, Yukino, Miyu, and Alyssa undertook a more detailed exploratory mission around the island. Besides the aforementioned wine cellar, they noted a tall antenna on the northern end of the island, presumably for communication purposes, as well as a pair of windmills for energy production ("Structurally certified to withstand wind speeds of up to 90 km/h," Miyu stated). The three towers were positioned near the edge of a fairly high cliff, at the bottom of which there appeared to be a fenced-off area protecting a water pump partly built into the cliff-side. On the western side, in the mansion's backyard, there was a decent-sized beach with a shed, its open door a testament to Nao's skills. Takumi and Akira were already at play with a beach ball found inside, with the sister and Akane watching over. The southern part of the island held little of note other than an approximately 5-foot drop to a rocky shore, which was low enough to be completely submerged at high tide. The mansion itself, though in a style mimicking a French château, was recently built, as the lack of wear, the presence of solar panels on the roof for additional power, and "that fresh paint feel", as Natsuki called it, on the outside doors would attest.

The tour ended at the mansion's front door, where they found Nao still trying to pick the lock.Haruka called Yukino away, so the other three ended up standing there watching Nao work. "You're still at it?" Natsuki asked.

"What am I supposed to do, just sit here and be bored to tears?"

"Fair enough."

"Where have you been?"

_Like I'm answerable to her,_ Natsuki thought. "Checking out what kinds of amenities this place has."

"Amenities?"

"Fancy cool things to play with," Alyssa explained.

"I know what an amenity is," Nao responded. "Just didn't think Kuga could use it in a sentence."

Natsuki brushed away that comment. One learned to do that pretty quickly around Nao. "Any progress?"

Nao's arms flopped to the ground in bewilderment. "Would I still be here if I had made some?"

"I don't know," Natsuki shrugged. "Looks like you're trying to…I don't know, play it like a music box."

Nao just rolled her eyes and scoffed before returning to the lock. About a minute passed with the scene more or less remaining static. Natsuki was rather intrigued by the whole thing. It was the first time she had seen Nao so focused on anything constructive (the term "constructive" being used rather loosely). The only other times she had seen her this driven were during the Carnival, and she was running off of some very strong emotions then. Then again, prior to the Carnival and that whole mess Natsuki was only vaguely familiar with Nao. Perhaps with the return of her mother, her energy diverted away from beating the crap out of pedophiles and towards other hobbies.

Natsuki's train of thought was halted by Alyssa moving into her line of sight. The girl had positioned herself so that she could see what Nao was trying to do without interfering. "Try sticking the pin in farther while giving it a half-twist before hooking," she suggested.

"What the hell do you know about picking locks?"

"More than you think," Miyu replied. Miyu responding at all took both Nao and Natsuki by surprise. Sort-of-goody-two-shoes Alyssa, a delinquent? Nao gave it a shot, and to her surprise found it to be helpful, as she found she was now able to manipulate the pins in the lock. The next part, though, was more difficult: the deadbolt lock required significant torque to move out of the way, and a mere pin wasn't going to cut it. Out of the corner of her eye Natsuki noticed Miyu slowly retreating away from the door and stopping several feet away. Natsuki swore she saw something suggesting a smile on her face. She stealthily backed up so that she could converse quietly with Miyu while still observing the lock-picking. "I didn't know Alyssa could pick locks," she said.

"Searrs did not give o_jou-sama_ much in the way of recreation."

"I see. You think they can do it before Mai gets here?"

A brief pause. "I calculate a 37.7 percent chance of success."

"Ooookay." Natsuki should have figured should she would get an answer like that. "Doesn't seem like you to step away from Alyssa."

"I wish to take observations."

"Over…?"

"How _ojou-sama_ interacts with others besides myself."

"Ah." The two settled on watching the other two try to move the immoveable object known as the deadbolt.

_Flyer 3_ finally arrived about two and a half hours after the first two boats. Those on the boat, especially Mai, were confused as to why only Sister Yukariko was on the dock to greet their arrival. "Where is everyone?" Mai asked once the boat was secured to the dock.

"Everyone is inside."

"How? I have the keys," Mai replied, jingling them as she spoke.

"Well, um…"

Several seconds later, a lone voice echoed through the halls of the mansion and smothered the conversations taking place within: "NAO!!"

"Yes?" Nao's head peered around the entryway to the lounge. She had been playing _Dead or Alive 4_ with Natsuki and was doing pretty well for a newbie.

"Would you care to explain to me why you felt the need to pick the lock to the front door?"

"I didn't want to wait to get inside."

"So you removed the deadbolt WITH A CROWBAR?!" Mai grabbed Nao's shoulders and shook them in a rage, making her drop the controller she was holding. Behind her the compromised front door swung slightly in the breeze, the scratches from a crowbar evident.

"A dinky little piece of metal wasn't going to cut it."

Mai let go of Nao and hung her head in resignation. "Do you have _any_ idea how much this is going to cost to fix?!"

"Um…ten thousand yen?"

"8,734 yen, not including transportation costs," Miyu spoke, looking up from the chess game she had been playing with Alyssa. In turn, Alyssa stopped looking at her pieces and looked at Miyu.

"Not funny, Miyu," Mai muttered.

"I was not attempting to make a joke, Tokiha-san."

"Look, Mai, I'll get it fixed if that'll make you happy."

Mai sighed. "Fine," she said. "I'm gonna go get dinner started."

"Huh?" Natsuki called to Mai as she was heading toward the kitchen. "I thought others were going take care of it." Natsuki stole a quick glance, revealing Nao mouthing the words, "You owe me for this," towards Miyu.

"Others? What are you talking about…Eh? Did I forget to mention that?"

"Mention what?" Reito asked.

"The place is for ourselves to stay in for the week. It'll be just us here." A chorus of "What?" bounced throughout the mansion. Mai all but prostrated herself and offered penance. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner."

"And here I was looking forward to being pampered to my heart's content, too," Midori lamented.

"So there's no host that's supposed to be here for us?" Akane asked from the second floor.

"No one but ourselves, Akane-chan. This is a mansion, not a hotel."

"I guess that would explain that giant storage in the basement full of supplies," Natsuki mused as the two of them walked to the kitchen.

"Well, when you consider that there are sixteen mouths to feed three meals a day for seven days…"

"I guess that would be a lot of mouths. But why didn't you tell us sooner? It's rather weird for a vacation prize to not have hosts."

"I guess it just slipped my mind."

"Oh, speaking of which, Nao wasn't the only one trying to pick the front door."

"She had help?"

"In the form of Alyssa and Miyu."

"That's unexpected. And you saw this?"

"I was…on the side observing."

Mai turned to Natsuki. "And you didn't stop them because…"

"Uh, because I thought it was prudent not to stand in the way of a weapon of mass destruction?"

Mai was about to protest, but rescinded it. "Fair enough."

The rest of the afternoon passed by without much incident. Nao had somehow managed to draft Miyu and Alyssa into helping fix the door. The fruits of their labor were a door that would close properly but a lock that wouldn't. After a couple attempts Nao gave up on it: "We're on a remote island, anyway. Who the hell's going to be barging in on us?"

While the usual three chefs went about their business, most of the others were busy either settling in, exploring the mansion itself, or relaxing. There were only five bedrooms, though enough mattresses for everyone, and everyone had to room in groups of three (or in the case of Alyssa, Miyu, and the two adults, as well as Yukino, Haruka, Shiho, and Akane, four). The guys were given their own room by the insistence of the girls. Shizuru's room, which she shared with Natsuki and Nao, had a balcony facing out to the west. On this balcony stood Nao, looking over the sunset. Her idle thoughts were interrupted by a Kyoto accent: "Elegant, isn't it?" Nao looked back to see Shizuru walk towards her and take a position next to her on the balcony. Nao subconsciously shifted to make room for her. "I thought you were downstairs playing video games with Natsuki."

"I was until Natsuki decided to help Mai with making dinner. Didn't think Mai wanted to see me just yet, so played by myself, but I kept getting beat by the computer, so I got bored and left."

"Then, who is playing with it now? I heard something musical coming from there as I was passing by."

"Last I checked Reito was playing _The Idolmaster._"

"Ah, I have heard about that game. It is the one where one is a manager for an idol?"

"Yeah, that one. I'm actually a little disturbed by it. He seriously needs to get a girlfriend not named Mikoto."

"I suppose so." Shizuru leaned on the railing. "Do you mind if I ask you something, Yuuki-san?"

"You can. I might not answer it."

"Fair enough. Do you still hate me?"

Nao looked at her. "Is this about the Carnival?"

"…Yes," Shizuru replied after a long pause.

Nao looked over the balcony. "Yes…and no. I still can't trust you like Kuga does. What you did to me back then…" Nao paused to put it into words. "…is something I can't forget just like that."

"I understand. I committed many sins for which I must harbor for life."

"Tch, don't be so full of yourself," Nao retorted. "You're not the only one who's done things like that out of love." Nao's gaze drifted to the sun, low in the sky.

Mai's voice over the intercom grabbed their attention. "_Hey, guys, dinner's almost ready. If some people can get down here to help Takumi and I set up, we can start sooner._" Nao got up and began to walk to the door. "You're not coming?" Nao asked at Shizuru, still standing on the balcony.

"I wish to think about things for a little while longer before I join you."

Nao rolled her eyes. "You know you can't go on living like this forever," she said.

"I know, Yuuki-san," Shizuru replied just as Nao closed the door behind her. "And I wish it were that simple," she added softly, looking out at the setting sun increasingly covered by clouds.


	5. Chapter 4

_Sorry for the delay. Finals and all. I'm also considering starting a different fic, so there's a chance I'll be splitting time between two works._

_Thanks to all who've been reading and reviewing._

_Again, My-HiME belongs to Sunrise._

_12/12/07_

* * *

The dining room table was quite large, but Miyu ended up the odd one out in the game of musical chairs once the fruits (and vegetables and bread and meats) of Mai's labor were laid out. Mai had offered her seat since she was "going to be up half the time anyway", but Miyu declined since "androids do not eat anyway". Mai briefly wondered since when Miyu had developed a sense of humor (maybe Alyssa did something) before returning to the kitchen to cart out the evening's course.

Perhaps ramen is a little more inherently impressive than sandwiches, but nevertheless Mai's culinary skills astounded the crowd again, especially when one considers she had to make sixteen different bowls of them to satisfy sixteen different appetites. Mikoto's and Akira's eyes were watering: Mikoto's because she finally got to eat the food she was forbidden to touch while they were cooking, and Akira's because she had asked for some pepper in her bowl but Mikoto put too much in. (Well, at least that's what she responded when Takumi asked whether he did something wrong in preparing hers.) Everyone besides Mai was seated and the bowls were served. On your mark…get set…

"_Ittadakimasu_!"

Mai stood behind Mikoto's seat, conveniently near a table with a vase of flowers on it to place her bowl on. She handled everyone's compliments to the chef in typical Mai fashion: with cheeriness and modesty. "Don't be shy about seconds," she notified them. "There are still some extra noodles." After that she mainly stood back and watched the proceedings, knowing that the time available to relax would be short because of requests for second rounds. Her attention sat mostly with Mikoto, who was gulping down her big bowl like a cartoon character. The vomit stain on her shirt from before, when she managed to swallow that puffer fish (where she got one on a speedboat, Mai couldn't even begin to fathom), was being decorated with broth. "Slow down, Mikoto, you're spilling soup on your shirt."

"But Mai's cooking is so good!" As if to prove her point, a stray noodle flew through the air and landed halfway into Mai's bowl. Mai picked it up with her chopsticks and dropped it back into Mikoto's bowl. "Now look what you've done, Mikoto."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Mai."

"It's alright, Mikoto. You don't have to eat it fast to prove that you like it." With her point proven, Mikoto ate more slowly to prevent any further flying noodle incidents, though she was still the fastest eater in the group. With the ravenous mouth properly chained, Mai stood back and looked over the group.

Every cloud has a silver lining, they say, and to Mai it was a saying she had embraced. She had to, really. The Carnival was traumatic, taxing, and terrorizing for her and for many others. As unofficial confidant to the other HiME, she was privy to many fears and feelings among the group, and she knew she wasn't the only one who felt like that. Yukino and Nao (through Natsuki), on separate occasions, had divulged to her that they sometimes still had nightmares of Shizuru's actions against them during the Carnivals. The same for Akane in regards to Miyu. On the other hand, Shizuru had let Mai in as well on a couple occasions about her lingering guilt over the Carnival, though more subtly. Mai's last name was not Harada or Senou, so what transpired in their conversations never left her mouth, but part of the reason Mai wasn't so upset about having to do four times as much work as planned was so that good memories can replace the bad ones. Up to now, the common thread out of everyone was the Carnival, which while not the most tenuous of connections wasn't the most pleasant. Watching Natsuki squirt mayonnaise into her bowl every time Shizuru wasn't looking, the snickering of Nao after squirting mayonnaise into Shizuru's bowl, and Shizuru "blaming" Natsuki's "disgusting and fattening habit" of the "desecration" of her meal gave Mai some comfort that at least one relationship is on the mend.

Mikoto, meanwhile, was attracting the attention of Alyssa, of all people. True, sitting next to her meant ignoring the garbage disposal was difficult, but Alyssa actually seemed genuinely interested in attempting to carry out a conversation regardless. Given Mikoto's simplicity, the topic was on the food Mikoto was eating, but Mai had to admit, she didn't see this coming. Although she was among those who insisted that Alyssa and Miyu join them, she had expected Alyssa to stick close to Miyu and take a few days before actually interacting with anyone else.

Mikoto, as expected, was finished and wanted seconds, and after making Mikoto ask politely, Mai took her bowl and walked to the kitchen, passing by Miyu who was involved in a conversation with Midori and Yukino about programming languages. What Mai found interesting was that Miyu wasn't doing all that much talking, except when Alyssa was looking her way. In fact, on the way back from the kitchen Miyu actually _interrupted_ Midori to argue the merits of C++ over Basic (not that Mai knew more than cursory knowledge of programming). Mai was perplexed. Was Miyu becoming more like a human being? Was Alyssa testing out a new program? Was being a nun under Sister's tutelage working miracles? She'll have to ask her later.

"Round two for you," Mai said as she placed the bowl down in front of Mikoto, who happily began slurping it up as fast as the first one. Mai looked up and at the far end of the table, where sat Reito, Yukino, Tate, and Shiho…with Shiho clinging to Tate's arm. That's really been the biggest thing that hasn't allowed Mai to completely relax, something that she's more or less sidestepped (with varying amounts of success) ever since she found out Shiho was the white bride with a flute and that scary crow. At first it was easy to ignore the problem when there were greater issues at hand. But reality presented its ugly head when they had that picnic last graduation day. Mai knows that she is the one Tate cares about from his heart, even if both of them dance around the issue like the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room. But Shiho pouncing on him from the bushes put up the main roadblock on the road to a relationship. With their powers gone, at least there wasn't much of a threat for mass destruction, but matters of love (and especially love triangles) are never easy to solve, especially without someone losing. The situation so far has been kept under control whenever the three of them were in the same location, but it was nearly always uncomfortable. Mai wanted the close friendship she once had with Shiho in the early part of the previous year, yet also yearns to pursue her…love of Yuichi like how Takumi and Akira have. From the rare conversations alone with Tate Mai knows he actually encourages her to do so, but it is Shiho who is the unknown quantity. Their interactions have been cordial, if shallow, and it is her actions that are the main cause of this situation. Her possessiveness of Tate was evident during the Carnival, and even if a monstrous crow was not going to hunt her down any more, Mai knew she had to tread lightly. Remove Tate from Shiho's grasp the wrong way, and none of them were going to end up happy.

"Mai?" Akane's voice ended Mai's review of her predicament. "May I have some more ramen?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, of course, Akane."

"Are you OK? You seem distracted," Akane said while Mai took her bowl.

"Oh, it's nothing, really. Just…thinking about things," Mai dismissed Akane's concerns with a smile and a wave as she walked to the kitchen. Akane knew better than that, though. She knew Mai was thinking about Tate again. Everyone not named Shiho (and perhaps Mikoto) could tell who it was that Mai loved and who it was Tate loved, but no one had the brains or the courage to resolve the issue. (Or in Nao's case, the compassion.) Akane sighed. She couldn't figure out how Mai could shoulder so much and still keep a smile on that face. Mai lost who she cared deeply for not once but _twice_, yet she was still the one that rescued them all. Everyone else (her included) wilted. Yet who is it among the HiME that ends up in a love triangle? She used to think that it was Armageddon when that robot killed Kazuya. Mai went through Armageddon…probably three times.

Speaking of which, Akane thought now was probably a good time to call up Kazuya and see how his grandma's doing. He should have arrived back at his parents' home by that point. Akane flipped out her cell phone and dialed his number, but became confused when she didn't hear the line ring. She looked at her cell's display, and found it could not pick up a signal. Was her cell phone not compatible with that big antenna outside? Akane got up and tried walking around, but still no signal came.

What came instead was the attention of Nao. "What are you doing?"

"Can't get a signal."

"Use the house phone. I did earlier."

"Calling who?"

"Uh…teaching Mikoto how to crank call."

Figures. Mai really needed to look out for Nao, make sure she doesn't corrupt her charge. Akane walked into the kitchen to find a phone.

"Hey, be patient, Akane. I'm almost done," Mai said, motioning to Akane's bowl.

"No, it's not that," Akane replied. "Just want to call Kazuya." Akane picked up the handset and started dialing when she gradually slowed down and stopped. She hung up the phone and picked it up again.

"Akane? What's going on?" Mai placed the bowl down and walked over.

"No dial tone." Akane handed the set to Mai, who tried to get it working to no avail.

"This is weird," Mai said. "Let me try the phones upstairs." Mai shuffled off upstairs.

Meanwhile, Akane walked back into the dining room, though slightly delayed by Alyssa walking in the opposite direction to go to the bathroom. "Hey, does anyone have a cell phone I can borrow?"

Several people pulled out their cells, but strangely even though they used different carriers, not one of them was able to pick up a signal. Shizuru especially thought it was weird since she had earlier made a call to her family in Kyoto.

"Where's Mai?" Natsuki asked.

"She's upstairs checking the phones. The one in the kitchen doesn't work either," Akane answered. Concerned murmuring waved through the group.

"Maybe something is wrong with the antenna outside," Haruka suggested. "It would explain why all the phones aren't working."

"I will check the antenna outside," Miyu announced. She got up and walked out into the night to the towers outside. Takumi and Midori got up to check other phones on the first floor, while Tate and Shiho went to the basement to check the phone in the recreation room. Akira went upstairs to assist Mai. The rest continued to finish their dinner, though at a more somber pace.

Shizuru was the first to notice Mai and Akira return from their upstairs check. "What did you find out, Mai-san?"

"Well, two things actually. First, none of the phones upstairs are working either."

"I see. Perhaps it is the antenna, then."

"What's the second, Mai?" Natsuki asked.

"That's…the weird part."

"Weird?"

"Mai found strips of paper on each of the phones," Akira explained. "There's something written on them."

"What do they say?"

"It's in English, but beyond that we're not sure. It looks like whatever was written on it was torn through the middle of the sentence, so we can't make much sense of it."

"Weren't you in America for a couple of months?" Nao asked. "And you can't read English?"

"Hey, you need more than a couple of months to wrap your head around a foreign language," Akira responded.

"Where's Takumi?" Mai asked. "His English is pretty good."

"So you just relied on him during your honeymoon?"

Akira didn't have long to be ticked off at Nao, for Takumi and Midori returned with slips of paper of their own. When Tate and Shiho came back and added their slips to the pool, there were a total of eighteen pieces of paper for them to sort out. It took the group about five minutes to figure out how the pieces were supposed to go together, and Midori and Takumi were about to start trying to translate when Alyssa returned and asked for the paper. Those present figured that would probably be easier since Alyssa is American. She gave it a read-through, and came away with a puzzled look on her face.

"What? Don't tell me you can't read it either," Nao complained.

"No, I can read it even though the writing's a little weird," Alyssa replied. "It's just…weird."

"Weird?" Akane asked. "How?"

Alyssa translated what was written:

"_Do not forget your blankie, for this story is a macabre nursery rhyme. _

_For the wolf hid itself in sheep's clothing, but no shepherd saved the flock this time._

_Once Mary was out of the way, the flock became stricken with paranoia._

_Once the black sheep were slaughtered, it was paralyzed by massive hysteria._

_The banshee that lurked that shelter tortured the huddled herd like abused dolls._

_The bleating and crying of the sacrificed lambs chorused the banshee's calls._

_Two trinities stood against the wolf, but they may as well be playing blindfolded darts._

_For the banshee that aided that wolf was just as cunning, and pulled the strings on their hearts._

_The first group of three did not make them sweat; it was not built the best._

_For four is bad in the east, and thirteen unlucky in the west._

_Survival of the fittest had the left the last three wandering the hall._

_With the banshee prodding on, the wolf lied in wait, ready to end it all."_

"You're right," Reito said. "That does sound weird." He sat back in his chair. "You know what that reminds me of, though?"

"That mystery novel about ten strangers on an island?" Alyssa responded.

"Yeah, that one."

"How does a poem relate to a mystery novel?" Natsuki asked, a little lost.

"Well, there was a poem in it that sounds sort of dark and unhappy," Alyssa explained. "By the way," she asked, finally noticing a missing figure, "where's Miyu?"

"She went outside to check on the antenna," Yukino replied.

"How long ago was that?"

Yukino looked at her watch. "Close to twenty minutes now."

"You sure?"

"Yes," Yukino replied.

"Nao, do you have reception?"

Nao flipped open her cell. "Nope," she replied.

"This is weird. By now Miyu should have either fixed whatever was wrong with the antenna or reported back to us," Alyssa said.

"Perhaps we should check on her," Mai suggested. Everyone got up and walked towards the towers on the northern end of the island. As they approached the towers, Alyssa called out: "Miyu! Where are you?" The lack of an answer was unnerving. Certainly upon hearing her mistress's voice Miyu should have responded. The scene they saw upon reaching the cell phone tower, though, would make that unnerving feeling insignificant.

It was a sight none of them thought they would ever see: Miyu in a fetal position, with one arm resting against the tower. Above was an opened console, evidence of Miyu's attempt to fix the island's communications. Alyssa ran to Miyu as soon as she saw the scene. "Miyu! Miyu! Are you alright?" She shook the android. Miyu attempted to say something, which Alyssa leaned in to try to hear. Everyone jumped back a bit when Miyu suddenly convulsed, as if she was in her death throes.

"I need a light!" Alyssa exclaimed. No one had one, so Natsuki ran back into the mansion to find one while Alyssa hopped over to the other side of Miyu's body and began to open a panel in the back of Miyu's head. A sudden sparking and smoke caught everyone off guard, but Alyssa pressed on, trying to clear the smoke and with what little light was available see what was wrong.

"_Ojou…sama…_" Miyu's faint voice was barely audible, and the fact that Alyssa was even able to hear it through her adrenaline rush made it all the more remarkable. Alyssa jumped back to listen to Miyu's voice. "It…was…" The end of that sentence would never be heard, as Miyu's power supply gave out, and her eyes closed.

"Miyu? Miyu?!" Alyssa was trying to stay calm, but her panic was evident. It took a while for the reality to sink in, especially for Alyssa, but when it did…

"MIYU!" Alyssa wailed like no one had ever seen the normally stoic and even-tempered girl wailed. Akane and the Sister moved forward to comfort her just as Natsuki came running back with a flashlight. "Is she…" she quietly asked Shizuru, who nodded solemnly. "I see," was all Natsuki could manage. Everyone else was in shock. Even Mikoto knew the gravity of the situation and kneeled down across from Alyssa. Natsuki turned to Reito. "Hey. How did that novel end?"

"With everyone dead," he replied.

* * *

_Please read and review._


	6. Chapter 5

_Sorry about the delay. A lot of things came up, like looking for a job once I graduate, Christmas shopping, role-playing as an alternate-history 1860 Japan, Tekken, and Guitar Hero (can't get Metallica and Scorpions out of my head now)._

_Thanks to all who reviewed._

_AC195 - That's my decision._

_rainee-chan - Again, sorry for the delay. Thanks about the poem; it took me a while to craft one that made sense._

_Naolin - Thanks about my grades. I could use every good grade I get. Hey, continue babbling. It's good to know what my readers may be thinking._

_Olivia - I'll just quote a favorite movie of mine: "Let's work the problem, people. Let's not make things worse by guessin'."_

_lindred - Indeed it does..._

_12/25/07_

* * *

Miyu's lifeless body was laid on a couch in one of the rooms downstairs. Alyssa sat in a chair, looking over her. Natsuki, Yukino, and Midori were outside trying to fix the cell phone tower, while Sister Yukariko and Akane continued attending to Alyssa so as to make sure she wasn't alone. The others had formed two conversation groups and spoke in somewhat hushed voices.

"How is Searrs-san faring?" Shizuru asked, returning from the kitchen with a hot pot of tea and began pouring out five cups for those present.

"Better than I thought she would, to be honest," Tate said, thanking her for the tea. "She stopped crying a few minutes ago and was looking through Miyu's circuitry before you came back."

"Really?" Shizuru asked. "That is a little surprising."

Nao wondered whether it was really all that surprising. "Not really…" she said idly in response to Shizuru's comment, though her attention was focused on Alyssa. Spending time as co-workers with the little brat probably gave Nao a better understanding of her, but Nao didn't think it was that weird that Alyssa's grieving was over that quickly. True, Miyu was not like a human in that she can be repaired and be restored to how she was before, but even if Miyu was beyond saving (which was a clear possibility), Nao didn't think Alyssa's behavior would be much different. Perhaps more angry and vengeful, but she wouldn't be decapitated by sorrow.

"Yuuki-san." Shizuru's voice briefly shook Nao out of her thoughts. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just that people can revel in me-against-the-world," she replied before returning her attention back to Alyssa, who was once again looking over Miyu's internal systems even though it was determined long ago that there was no way Miyu could be revived, at least with the materials available on an isolated island. The brief grieving that Alyssa displayed didn't fool Nao. She knew what it was like to lose the only love in your life. When those that wronged you never paid for their transgressions. When the rest of the world didn't offer a hand to help. When even God himself seemed to renege on His promise: "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." Nao chuckled inwardly at that last thought. Nao the jailbait vigilante, quoting the Bible? The Sister had a gift, indeed.

Meanwhile, the other conversation held the cryptic poem within its circle. Reito, having written the poem in Japanese, laid out the translation on a coffee table, with the others gathered around to study it. "Is this like that mystery Alyssa was talking about?" Mikoto asked.

"That's actually what I'm thinking about, Mikoto," Reito replied, scratching his head. "There was indeed a poem in the novel, but it wasn't quite like this."

"How so?" Mai asked.

"There was one verse for each of the ten characters who die. 'X little Indians' doing something or other, then one would do something to take himself out 'and there were (X – 1).'"

"X minus one? Wouldn't that be…W?" Mikoto wondered, apparently not comprehending what a variable is.

"Still, here we are on an isolated island, and now Miyu's…offline, I guess," Akira stated. "The parallels are unnerving."

"Oh, come on," Haruka said. "For all we know, Miyu could have simply malfunctioned. We shouldn't spread panic."

"Haruka's right," said Mai. "I've noticed the parallels too, Akira-kun, but wouldn't it be kind of presumptuous to assume that a couple of similarities means someone's copycatting a book?"

"Still, someone had to have placed those pieces of paper by the phones on purpose. Certainly they couldn't have just appeared their by themselves with words that conveniently construct into a poem," Akira replied.

"I guess you're right about that," Mai admitted. She turned back to Alyssa, who was at that moment sighing in defeat. "Alyssa-chan, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Can't figure out what could be wrong with her," Alyssa replied. "Several of the boards are fried beyond recognition. I can't tell what could be wrong."

:"You could ask Yukino to borrow her laptop to use to figure out what's wrong with Miyu," Shiho suggested.

"I don't think it'd do much good, since Miyu's security mechanisms could still be active. Might be worth a shot, though."

"What defense mechanisms?" Mai asked.

"An unauthorized person trying to access Miyu's systems will have their own system crashed," Alyssa explained.

"Still, Kikukawa-san is a very good programmer," Shizuru said. "She may be able to get around the system."

"Like I said, if she's willing to risk her own laptop."

"What's this about my laptop?" Yukino asked as she walked into the room, with Midori not far behind her.

"We were wondering whether you would be willing to lend your laptop to try to revive Miyu," Mai said.

"Or at least find out what's wrong," Haruka added.

"Um…that'd be fine, I guess," Yukino answered.

"Even though Miyu's defenses may ruin your computer?" Alyssa asked.

"You could guide me through, and we can always pull the plug if something goes wrong," Yukino replied. The two set out at once on the endeavour.

Midori had meanwhile made her way next to Sister Yukariko. "How's she doing?" she asked.

"She's handling it rather well, I think. She cried a lot before, but as you can see, she's recomposed herself pretty well."

"Guess the training wheels didn't come off too soon."

"I suppose not, Sugiura-sensei. You were right. But I certainly didn't expect this to happen."

"Neither did I," Midori replied.

"Hey, Midori," Mai asked. "What's the deal with the tower?"

"Couldn't fix it. Several of the circuit boards are damaged."

"So much for watching TV tonight," Nao bemoaned.

"What are you talking about, Nao?" Akane asked. "We get satellite."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, you didn't notice?" Haruka asked. "The dish is clinging to the side of the building."

"Well…I wasn't really paying attention to that."

"Of course you wouldn't. By the way," Haruka turned back to Midori, "where's Kuga?"

"Yukino said that she saw her heading towards the beach."

"Why would she do that?" Mai asked.

"Don't know," Midori said with a shrug. "Guess she just wanted some personal time."

Mai was about to file away the note under "Oh, that's nice" until she noticed Shizuru quietly slipping towards the back door. "And where are you doing?" she asked.

"Simply thinking that Natsuki has had enough time alone, Mai-san," she replied before stepping out into the night. Mai wasn't the only one who noticed: Akane had noticed and followed Shizuru out of curiosity.

Mai returned to the room where everyone had been gathered previously and noted that the number of people in the room was dwindling quite rapidly. The sister had retired for the evening to her room upstairs, while Takumi had gone downstairs to try out the exercise machines which Akira had told him about earlier. She didn't know where the others went, but only Reito, Midori, and Akira were left in the room, where Reito was teaching the other two how to play chess. Pretty much out of instinct, she began cleaning up the tea cups that Shizuru and company had left behind.

As she began picking up the cups she heard a male voice saying "May I help?" She looked up to see Tate's face. "You could probably use an extra hand."

"Thanks, Tate-kun," she replied. Between their four hands, all of the cups and dishes were picked up and transported to the kitchen, where Mai began washing them. "How did you get away from Shiho-chan?"

"She fell asleep on one of the lounge chairs outside," he explained, pointing to one of the chairs on the patio. "They're amazingly comfy, I have to say."

"Really? I haven't had a chance to try them out."

"Ah, right." Yuichi shifted his weight while Mai continued washing. He couldn't explain it very well, but he sensed that Mai wasn't feeling entirely like her normal self. The aura he was getting was more like the time Mai lost Takumi. It wasn't to the extent of the Carnival, but it was strong enough to make Yuichi think that Miyu's mysterious breakdown alone couldn't be enough to explain it all. "Hey, Mai?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if we talk?"

"About us?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Jeez, you two are so cliché." The two of them turned to see Nao standing a couple feet away, arms crossed and a look of bemused exasperation on her face. "Thought this kind of stuff only happened in movies."

"Well, um, uh…" Mai managed to stutter. The awkwardly dancing couple did their jig once again, and Nao always loved to see it.

Yuichi came out of his embarrassment-induced haze first, and noticed Nao holding something which neither of them had noticed before. "Um, what are you doing with that water gun?"

"This?" Nao needed both of her hands (it had a strap) in order to hold it up for them to inspect. "I'm going hunting."

"For what, may I ask?" Mai asked.

"Lovers," Nao replied. Pretending to cock the thing like a shotgun, Nao stalked off into the night for her prey.

"Have fun," Mai said as Nao walked out into the night.

"Are you seriously encouraging this kind of behavior?" Yuichi asked as Mai turned her attention back to him.

"I think it's better than her continually beating up pedophiles because she still blames herself for her mother's situation."

"Is that really better?"

"You would rather have her hang you by your wrists with piano wire three stories up?"

Yuichi gave pause. "She did that?"

Mai gave a dramatic pause. "There are rumors…"

"I see…" Mai couldn't help but crack up at the creeping look of horror on Yuichi's face. "What? What's so funny?" he demanded.

"What's funny is how easily you fell for that," Mai said through her "ha"s. "I'm kidding, Yuichi, I'm kidding."

"It wasn't funny," Yuichi complained, though the smile on his face and the playful way he was punching Mai's shoulder suggested otherwise.

From around the corner, Haruka was spying on the latest exchange between the two. She had earlier caught a glimpse of Nao with the water gun and tag behind her to see what the delinquent was up to, though the exchange with Mai effectively removed Nao from her jurisdiction. Nao was still a troublemaker, but Mai had made repeated assurances to her that she would watch out for Nao, at least until her mother was discharged from the hospital. Mai may be an airhead, but she was one of the few people that Nao seemed to listen to at all.

"What's going on, Haurka-chan?"

Yukino's voice caught Haruka off-guard and she nearly shrieked. "Don't do that, Yukino!"

"Sorry. What's going on?"

"The relationship between Tokiha and Tate takes another small step towards reality."

"I see. That's good."

"I'm just worried how Octo-head will take it."

"You're right. That will be a problem."

"Yeah. Weaning her off will not be easy. By the way, where's the kid?"

"Alyssa went to her room. She's still young, after all."

"Any luck with the robot?"

"Unfortunately, no. My laptop runs Windows, and whatever operating system Miyu has running, it can't be read by it. Miyu's though, could, and we had several near misses."

"Near misses?"

"Another second and my laptop would have crashed badly. As it is the laptop is out of commission for the rest of the night, at least."

"I thought you said your laptop didn't crash."

"It didn't, but several files got corrupted. It'll need time to recover."

"I see." Haruka took a look back to find the couple gone, so she turned her full attention to Yukino. "Hey, Yukino."

"Yes, Haruka-chan?"

"You can call me paranormal about this, but somehow I think what happened isn't a coincidence."

Yukino needed a moment to process everything at once. "Um, Haruka-chan, I have two things to say."

"Yeah?"

"One…" Yukino sighed. "I do think you are being ridiculous, Haruka-chan. But you know what? In a way, I'm glad."

"Glad? You are glad that I'm holding something so ridiculous?"

"Not all things that cause paranoia are unwarranted, Haruka-chan. I…I don't think someone is out to get us, but I can understand why you think so. Miyu is perhaps the most powerful among all of us, and for someone wishing to kill us, removing her would eliminate the biggest threat. The breakdown of communications with the outside world means we are left to fend for ourselves."

Haruka took hold of Yukino's shoulders. "Yukino, I want to say something to you." She then pulled Yukino into a hug, much to her surprise. "Understand that this is one case where I hope to be wrong, that I'm simply letting my imagination getting the better of me. But I want to thank you for your faith. You stand by me through whatever may come: monsters running lose on campus, military occupation of the Academy, that darned Fujino. I'll be very hard pressed to find someone like you in college."

Yukino could barely hold back the tears. "Thank you, Haruka-chan."

They eventually let go of each other. "Now, what was the second thing?"

"Huh?"

"You said you wanted to say two things."

"…Oh, right. It's 'paranoid', Haruka-chan."

Outside, Midori stood near a small grove of trees. She had caught a glimpse of the hug between Yukino and Haruka. "Good sign," she thought to herself. "Maybe the mouth won't be on my case so much." Her attention returned to the moon over the horizon.

"What are you doing here, Sugiura-sensei?" Midori turned around to see Sister Yukariko standing near her. "I could ask the same of you," she replied.

"I just wished to get some fresh air before bed," Yukariko replied. "What about you?"

A rustle from a nearby branch took their attention. "Found them, Midori," Mikoto said while perched on the branch.

"You want to come?" Midori asked. "We're going to check out a couple on the beach."

"I don't know," Yukariko replied hesitantly. "I don't think it would be appropriate to eavesdrop on people like that."

"Hey, we're the adults here. Isn't it our jobs to be chaperones and make sure everything's alright?"

The sister thought it over. "I suppose you have a point." The three of them stalked through the woods, with Mikoto leading the way. They settled in behind the last line of trees before the sands of the beach. It was truly a sublime landscape before them, with the setting moon couched in a bed of clouds, reflecting itself on the lapping water. To their right, Shizuru and Natsuki were sitting on the beach near the shed, looking out at the ocean view and talking with each other. To their left, Reito was standing near the end of the path back to the mansion, splitting his casual observation between the couple and the moon. Midori noticed Akira coming up from behind him and the two starting talking.

A sudden scream from around the shed caught the three's attention. For a brief moment, they thought a killer had struck. The sight they saw, though, was far from it. What they saw was Natsuki chasing Nao around the beach, who had just thrown away her water gun, while Shizuru stood there and appeared to be giggling. Apparently Nao had brought her gun to shoot Natsuki and succeeded. The observers could hardly contain their laughter as well at Natsuki's expense.

The mirth, however, was short-lived. Their laughter was drowned out by the panic and loud voice of Haruka calling for help. Everyone in earshot turned to see her running from the south end of the beach, and they all ran to her.

"What's wrong, Haruka?" Natsuki asked.

"I found something," she replied, a little pale and quite out of breath.

"What's this 'something'?" Akira asked.

"I…I think it's a body." That definitely got their attention.

"Where is it?" Shizuru asked. "Please, take us there."

The scene they arrived out looked like something out of a horror movie. Below the cliff on the southern end of the island, they found a body, face-down with a bloodied knife sticking out of the back. Midori approached the body and turned it over. "Oh my God."

"What is it?" Nao asked.

"It's Akane."

* * *

_Reviews are appreciated._


	7. Chapter 6

_Apologies for the delay. Holidays and settling back into school for Winter Quarter have taken my time. (Well, that and goofing around with SimCity 4.) It's been a while since I've worked on this, so it might take me a bit to find my groove again._

_ Thanks to all who reviewed:_

_- rainee: Who was your guess? _

_- EisWulf: Heh. Does your cousin have red hair?  
_

_- AC195: Easy, easy. Again, sorry for the delay._

_- Olivia: You know, I hadn't realized that until you said it. _

_1/9/08 _

* * *

"Okay, easy. This way," Haruka was dictating instructions to Midori and Yukariko, who were carrying Akane back inside the mansion. The others save for Reito and Shizuru followed in silence. Those two were cleaning up the chessboard set, which Midori had accidentally knocked over while carry Akane's body, though they were pretty quiet as well. 

"What's going on?" Mai asked from upstairs when she heard the procession.

"You might want to come down to see this, Mai," Natsuki replied. Mai and Alyssa (who was following her) came down the stairs and received the dreadful news.

Mai was speechless. All she could do was retreat to a corner and bite on her fist, trying not to let her emotions overwhelm her. Alyssa remained stoic, but it wasn't hard for someone to see the fear trying to creep into her eyes. Mikoto noticed Alyssa quietly shifting herself to the side of the room and approached her just as quietly so that she wasn't alone.

Nao, meanwhile, kept glancing at the front door. Though she thought no one else saw her doing that, Natsuki did. Normally Natsuki wouldn't have given it much more thought with the grief and shock over Akane's death still fresh in everyone's mind, but Natsuki noticed something different about Nao. When she figured out what it was, she would have laughed if there wasn't a murderer on the loose somewhere on the island. For the first time in God knows how long, Nao was feeling guilt. The unfamiliar look in her eyes, like she was in unfamiliar territory, suggested that.

Meanwhile, Midori had removed the knife and laid it on the nearby coffee table. The resulting wound was bandaged by Akira before the two of them laid Akane to rest on the couch. By this point, everyone who wasn't already present entered the room to see what the commotion was about and learned of Akane's fate.

"Who did this?" Takumi asked, while unconsciously stealing a glance at Nao.

"Don't know," Haruka replied. "I found her dead at the cliff beach."

"Huh?"

"The beach to the south with the short cliff."

"Oh, that one."

"Did anyone see anything suspicious outside this evening?" Natsuki asked. "Like a boat or something that's not supposed to be here?" Everyone shook their head.

"Perhaps someone had snuck onto the island before our arrival?" Shizuru suggested.

"And somehow managed to avoid all seventeen of us the whole time?" Akira asked skeptically.

"Perhaps they know something about this island we don't," Midori seconded. "Like a secret passage or hideout or something."

"Midori-chan, please don't let your archeological adventures bleed into this," Mai pleaded. "It's bad enough Akane-chan's dead." Mikoto got up to comfort Mai, who was on the verge of tears.

Midori felt awkward. "I'm sorry, Mai-chan. I didn't mean to trivialize Akane's death."

"Mai," Natsuki said, getting her attention by putting a hand on her shoulder. "Midori didn't mean to belittle Akane, but she may have a point."

"I do?"

"Maybe not secret passages like in the Pyramids of Egypt, but it is conceivable that someone having spent the previous several days here might have had enough time to prepare a suitable hiding place."

"I don't know," Akira replied, examining the knife on the table. "This isn't the kind of knife most woodsmen would use."

"What do you mean?" Shiho asked.

"Well, most people who spend time in the wilderness would use a hunting knife. They probably wouldn't bring an ornate dagger like this." Akira showed the group the handle, which was made of bronze and indeed beautifully crafted.

"It's still a knife, though," Nao asked, "right?"

"Yeah, it can still kill a person if used correctly."

"She was found on the beach dead, right?" Alyssa asked.

"Yeah," Haruka replied.

"No one heard her scream?"

Several moments of silence passed. "I guess not," Nao concluded.

Natsuki stood up and made a sigh. "All right. Akane's dead. There's nothing we can do for her at this point. There's likely a killer on the loose on the island, and we need to prepare for him."

"How are we going to do that?" Shizuru asked.

Natsuki was about to say something, but briefly held her tounge. "Some of us could take shifts and keep watch while the rest of us sleep. My original idea was for all of us to stay up, but I know some of us can't physically handle that, and the others probably don't want to lose a whole lot of sleep."

"Why not?" Shiho asked. "Being bleary-eyed is better than being dead."

"Not by much," Natsuki replied. "If one of us is somehow cornered and is too exhausted, that person won't be able to fight back or call for help." She looked at the clock sitting on the mantle above the fireplace. "All right, it's almost 10:30 now. We should probably get to bed soon."

"Why so early?" Nao asked, slightly repulsed at the idea of the early curfew.

"Because, Nao, the more sleep we get, the more rested we'll be for tomorrow when we go search the island."

"We can't do that now?"

"It's too dark outside. He'll have a greater advantage." Nao was about to ask who died and made Natsuki boss, but then realized two things: one, that would probably be an inappropriate use of words, and two, she did consider that to be the best idea. Nao lamented the loss of her vacation, but decided getting off the island was a higher priority.

"What about Akane?" Mai asked.

"What about her?" Natsuki asked back.

It seemed Mai was becoming very distraught, especially when she suddenly lashed out at Natsuki. "What about her?! WHAT ABOUT HER?! Akane's dead!" She turned her face away and was losing the fight with her tears. Shizuru went to comfort her, as did Mikoto (again). "Why…" was heard among the mumbling coming from Mai's mouth.

"Come on, Mai-san. Why don't we go upstairs?" Shizuru led Mai and Mikoto upstairs, leaving Natsuki in a position whose awkwardness rivaled her times with Shizuru.

Yuichi stepped forward and stood next to Natsuki as the group heard Mai's voice become softer and softer until it was silenced by a closed door. "Don't worry about it. Mai's just upset because she feels this is all her fault."

"Yeah, I know," Natsuki replied. She wondered why Mai always seemed so willing to take the blame. It wasn't right.

"So…" Akira said, drawing Natsuki's attention back to the group. "Who's going to take each shift?"

A little bit of discussion was needed, but a schedule was hammered out:

- 11:30 to 1:30 would be Nao's responsibility, since old habits die hard and she was often up at this time anyway. Most of them did find it odd that Nao would volunteer for guard duty, but no one really wanted to look a gift horse in the mouth.

- 1:30 to 3:00 was Midori's charge.

- 3:00 to 4:00 would be Reito's watch.

- 4:00 to 5:30 was Tate's responsibility.

- And 5:30 to 7:30 would be Natsuki's turn. It was assumed that by 7:30 enough people would be up and about on their own.

It was decided to leave Akane's body downstairs for the time being. With that, they went their separate ways, with most heading upstairs to change and prepare for bed. Nao stalked around the mansion, looking for things to occupy her time while she was on watch. Natsuki, meanwhile, went upstairs to Mai's room, which she was sharing with Mikoto and Akira. Mai wasn't in, but Mikoto pointed Natsuki to the bathroom.

Natsuki knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"

"Who is it?"

"Natsuki."

For a second, only the sound of the shower could be heard. "Sure." Natsuki entered the fogged-up bathroom and closed the door behind her. "Mai?" Natsuki began. "Listen. I'm…sorry about what I said. I shouldn't have said it that way."

"I should be the one to apologize, Natsuki," Mai replied from beyond the fogged-up shower door. "I was just…This is my fault. If I hadn't won that lottery, none of this would have happened."

"Mai…" Natsuki was the one pleading this time. She leaned on the sink with her hands. "Please. Stop beating yourself up. It doesn't do any good."

"But-"

"But nothing, Mai. No one can reasonably expect something like this time happen on every vacation." Natsuki got back up and approached the stall. "I know you care for Akane. All of us do. But we have to stay in control. We still outnumber whoever killed her by a lot. When we find him, we'll take him down."

Natsuki could see Mai's silhouette lean back and forth on the shower's door. "That's a promise?" Mai asked.

"Yes, Mai." Natsuki held up a hand against the door, and Mai reciprocated.

Time passed, the post was set up at the front door since the lock was broken, and everyone else went to bed, though sleep was not easy to come by. Nao's watch passed without incident (except for when she let out a very loud belch because she drank a 2-litewr bottle of soda in one sitting, and the flush of a downstairs toilet soon after), and so did Midori's. Midori, though, was having some trouble staying vigilant. Reito caught a glimpse of Midori nodding off before she snapped back to consciousness. "Sleeping on the job?" Reito asked.

"No," Midori obviously lied. "Am I done?"

"The clock in the room over there suggests so," Reito said, motioning to the clock above the fireplace mantle.

"Right." Midori got up and went upstairs. Reito settled into the post, and his shift passed without incident as well. 4:00 rolled around, but Yuichi had not come downstairs. Reito waited a few fruitless minutes before walking upstairs and entering the guys' room. There he found Yuichi still asleep, but more surprising was Shiho standing over him, lightly kicking him in the arm. "Oh, Reito," she said when she heard the door open. "_Onii-chan_ sleeps like a rock."

"I've noticed."

"I've been trying to get him up, but haven't been able to."

"Hmm. Why don't we get him downstairs? Maybe the movement will wake him up, and he'll be downstairs like he promised."

"He's heavy, though."

"I'll carry his weight, then, and you guide me."

"Sounds good, I guess." With some effort, Reito and Shiho were slowly able to guide Yuichi downstairs and into his seat, but still he remained asleep. "Guess I'll have to stand guard in his place, then," Shiho said.

"Might as well."

"He owes me for this."

"Right," Reito replied, quietly being thankful that he wasn't in Yuichi's place. "Good night, then." With that, he went upstairs as well.

Shiho was in the dining room to get another chair when she saw a light coming from the kitchen. She peeked around the corner and saw the refrigerator door open with someone's butt sticking out. Evidently someone was hunting for a snack. Shiho tiptoed closer to see who, but the scavenger heard her and lifted her head up. "Akira? What are you doing here?"

"What does it look like? Trying to find something to eat."

"Didn't have enough of Mai's cooking?"

"Yeah, I would have ordered a second bowl, but Takumi wanted to try out the exercise machines downstairs, and by the time I got back upstairs, all of it was gone."

"Was that Mikoto's doing?"

"Probably." Akira took a quick glance back and grabbed a tangerine before closing the door. The two of them began walking back to the foyer.

"That didn't take long."

"I knew what I wanted. I was just waiting for you two to get back to the post before I went back upstairs."

"You knew we were upstairs?"

"I came down here and found the chair empty, so I stuck around as a replacement before I heard you guys come down. You're too loud, you know that?"

"Like it's my fault _onii-chan_ is so difficult to move."

"Right." Yuichi was still asleep when the two got to the post. Akira handed Shiho the tangerine. "Hold this." She moved a couple of Yuichi's arms before hitting a couple of pressure points on his body.

Yuichi woke up easily like he was a morning person. "Where am I?"

"You wouldn't wake up," Shiho replied. "Akira hit a couple of pressure points or something."

"How did I end up here?"

"Shiho and Reito carried your lazy ass down here," Akira said. "You might also want to burn some time looking for that pawn you seemed to have knocked over," she added, motioning to the chess set which was missing a black pawn. "Good night," she ended, going upstairs while peeling the tangerine. She reached a bathroom and leaned inside to throw away the skin. She saw Reito walking towards her as she ended her lean, odd since Reito's room was not down that hallway. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Wanted to check on my little sister before going back to sleep."

Fair enough. "Oh."

"Good night."

"Night." Reito didn't need to ask why Akira was up, since she was eating her answer.

Some time later, the loud and unmistakable sound of a guitar playing some rock music jolted Nao out of her sleep and nearly caused her to bang her head against the bookshelf. She looked around for the source, and found it when she looked towards the bed. Natsuki had sat up in her bed and was stretching her arms. She then proceeded to trill on an air guitar, mimicking the music. Nao got up from her futon and saw the cause of the abrupt end to her slumber: a digital alarm clock going off.

"Didn't wake you, did I?" Natsuki asked nonchalantly.

"Not really," Nao replied. Nao walked over to a chair on the far side of the room and began putting on a pair of denim shorts, while Natsuki dove into her suitcase to find a pair of jeans. "What time is it?"

"5:25 or so," Natsuki replied. As if on cue, the lyrics of the song started:

_It's early morning, the sun comes out_

Nao froze.

_Last night was shaking, and pretty loud_

She recognized the lyrics, even though they were in English. The song was one of her favorites, one of the few she actually found enjoyable in the otherwise torturous Mai-driven trips to the karaoke bar. Of course, she would never let Mai (or anyone else, for that matter) know about it, but it was a way for her to cope with being stuck in that godforsaken room.

_My cat is purring and scratches my skin  
So what is wrong with another sin_

She started bobbing her head to the beat of the song. It was just that good, at least to her. Nao wondered where in the world Natsuki had picked it up.

_The bitch is hungry, she needs to tell_

_So give her inches, and feed her well_

Nao glanced at Natsuki, who had found a pair of jeans but was still searching for a shirt. Then she did something that made her hope Mai wasn't outside the doorway.

"_More days to come, new places to go_

_I've got to leave, it's time for show…"_

The additional voice caught Natsuki's attention. She turned her attention from her suitcase to Nao.

"_Here I am, rock you like a hurricane_

_Here I am, rock you like a hurricane"_

"You know this song?" Natsuki asked.

"I might."

"You know what it's called?"

_My body is burning, it starts to shout_

_Desire is coming, it breaks out loud_

Nao thought about how to translate the title into Japanese, but managed an answer. "_Rock You Like A Hurricane._"

_Lust is in cages, 'till storm breaks loose_

_Just have to make it with someone I choose_

Then Nao had a thought. "Why in the world would you pick a song that you don't even know what it means?"

"It just sounded cool, that's all."

"Kind of a stupid reason, ain't it?"

_The night is calling, I have to go_

_The wolf is hungry, he runs the show_

"Well, I know that 'wolf' is _ookami_," Natsuki replied hastily in her defense.

Nao looked at Shizuru, who despite the noise Natsuki's alarm was making, was still asleep. "How is she not awake?" she asked, pointing at her.

_He's licking his lips, he's ready to win_

_On the hunt tonight for love at first sting_

"No idea," Natsuki replied with a shrug. "Maybe she wears earplugs." The two of them just finished dressing to the point where if they went out as they were it wouldn't be considered scandalous when they heard a very loud shriek, loud enough to stir Shizuru from her sleep.

"What was that?" Natsuki asked.

_Here I am…_

"Sounded like Octo-head," Nao replied.

_Rock you like a hurricane_

Both of them rushed for the door handle to see what was going on. Nao, since she was already near the door, got there first and opened it.

_Are you ready, baby?!_

The door opened, but faster than it should have. The reason was because of an object on the other side of the door. Nao let go of the handle.

_Here I am_…

The door opened the rest of the way due to whatever was on the other side of it. That thing was Reito, who fell on top of Nao like a leaning tower whose time had come, sending the two of them crashing to the ground. "Get off of me, you perv!" Nao was about to shout when she felt liquid drip onto her forehead.

_Rock you like a hurricane…_

Nao wiped some off with her hand and held it up to see. Even in shadow, she could see the dark crimson of blood on it.

* * *

_Again, please read and review._


	8. Chapter 7

_OK, next chapter is here. Thanks for your patience._

_rainee-chan: Hey, Death's already made his list and checked it twice. I'm just the messenger._

_ManiazAzn: Have a cookie that Mai baked, straight out of the oven._

_Eiswulf: I'll likely add more songs into here as the fic progresses, if that's something you want to look out for._

_Olivia: ...Frankly, I'm a little scared at you celebrating two murders like that. I plead the Fifth on your two questions. And thanks for your compliment._

_Reminder: My-HiME is property of Sunrise. Belated credit for the song in the last chapter to the Scorpions._

_1/21/08 _

* * *

Natsuki was quite flustered. Her plan was supposed to prevent things like that from happening. Mai was comforting Mikoto, while Natsuki herself was beside Shizuru, who looked like she might have needed a shoulder to cry on. Natsuki was the one Shizuru loved, that was obvious, but Reito had, in their years together governing the student council, been a great help and friend for her as well. Natsuki knew about the days after the Carnival, when Shizuru confided in Reito and the two essentially cried together over their misdeeds and the misery they brought upon the others. At first she had been upset that Shizuru didn't come to her first, but then she realized that she was probably the one person she didn't want to spill those feelings of guilt towards, at least at first.

Yuichi, meanwhile, was sitting in a chair looking at Reito's slain body on the couch, like Alyssa was last night. The others were either sitting or standing in the room, all of them solemnly. Things were spiraling out of control in a hurry.

"All right," Takumi said finally. "Who was up at some point last night?"

"Me, Nao, Reito, and Yuichi, if I'm not mistaken," Midori replied.

"As was I," Alyssa added.

"Akira and I as well," Shiho said.

"What were you three doing up?" Mai asked.

"Needed to go to the bathroom," Alyssa responded.

"I was getting a midnight snack from the fridge because I was hungry," Akira replied. "And Shiho actually dragged Yuichi out of bed to get him to stand guard."

"Fat lot of good that did," Yuichi muttered, though no one except Mai heard him.

"OK. Who was the last one to see him alive?" Takumi continued with his questioning.

"We were," Shiho said. "Reito had helped me get _onii-chan_ down the stairs to stand watch."

"No," Akira interrupted. "I was the last one."

"How do you know?"

"The last time you saw him was just when you started duty, right?"

"Right."

"I saw him after that, after I left you two."

"Oh?"

"He walked past me right after he checked up on Mikoto."

"Aniki checked up on me?" Mikoto asked, unusually quietly.

"Seems so," Akira replied.

"Where was he heading?" Yukino asked.

"Back towards his room, last I saw him."

"Then how the hell did he end up outside our door?" Nao asked. Her hair was straighter and deader than usual after taking a quick shower to get the blood out of it. "Our room is farther down the hall than his."

"That…I have no idea," Akira conceded.

"Maybe he heard something coming from there and went to investigate?" Takumi suggested.

"Perhaps that's how he was killed," Haruka mused.

"What do you mean?" Shiho asked.

"Make a noise just loud enough to draw his attention and use it to lure him into a trap."

"If that's the case, how did he sneak by our lookout?" Natsuki asked.

"Alternate means, probably," Haruka surmised. "Maybe a back door, or through a window."

"I am fairly certain the windows were locked before we went to bed," Shizuru said.

"How certain?" Haruka asked. "This isn't a time for being 'fairly certain'."

"I…the ones I saw were locked, at least."

"So you're not sure all of them were locked last night?"

Shizuru looked the other way. "…No."

A smile crept onto Haruka's face for finally besting Fujino, but quickly vanished when she saw Yukino with a pleading look on her face. She scolded herself for falling into that rivalry in this serious situation. "Out of line. Sorry."

"Alright, so we don't know when exactly Reito died, just that it had to be after Akira-kun passed him shortly after 4:05 or so and shortly before 5:30 when Shiho-chan found his body leaning against the door to Kuga-san's room," Takumi summarized. He turned to Natsuki. "Kuga-san?"

"Yes, Takumi-kun?"

"What do you propose we do now?"

Natsuki sighed. "Instinctively, I'd say we should turn this place upside down right away to find anything or anyone suspicious, but two things tell me otherwise."

"What would those be?" Shizuru asked.

"First, if he's evaded us for this long and we're all scattered around, it would make it easier for him to strike."

"I see," Mai replied. "And what's the second?"

A stomach growl was heard by the group. Everyone turned to Mikoto, but she was looking at Natsuki, who was holding a hand to hers. "I think we would be better off having something to eat first."

Despite the situation, most people were amicable to the suggestion. Mai was not included in this group. "I'm not sure it's a good idea," she said quietly to Natsuki. "Will we have the appetite?"

"We need something to lift our spirits, Mai," Natsuki replied. "Besides, once we've had something to eat, we'll have the energy to make a thorough search."

"I suppose you're right," Mai conceded.

Breakfast was kept simple, since no one was truly in any mood to be able to enjoy anything extravagant, but Mai still somehow managed to make a good breakfast for the fourteen of them. Still, that meant a lot of eggs and sausages had to be cooked, so Takumi had offered to help his sister, but she said she would be fine.

"Your sister's really something, Takumi," Akira said quietly to him as he sat down, "still soldering on like this."

"You thought there wasn't a reason I admire her so much?" he asked.

"Well, not really, no," she replied. "It's just that…her normal behavior would suggest nothing like it."

"Well, you can't judge a book by its cover," Takumi replied. "You should know."

Akira sighed with a smile. Point, receiver. "Touché."

Breakfast was served, but the atmosphere was, understandably, much more somber than their last meal. Still, a couple people, like Haruka and Mai, tried to start some conversations in an effort to cheer people up and raise their spirits, which they had limited success in doing. The group's food was eaten, the dishes were piled into the sink for the one with the least resistance to dirty dishes, and everyone gathered on the deck outside.

Natsuki stood at the edge of the deck, and everyone turned to face her. "All right, here's the plan. We split up into pairs and search this island for anything that looks out of place, starting with the mansion."

"Pairs?" Shiho asked.

"So that if one of us goes down, the other can alert the rest of us."

"Why not larger groups?" Yukino asked.

"We can cover more ground in less time this way. I'm trying to strike a balance here. Alright." Natsuki looked around. "We start inside. There's fourteen of us, so that's seven pairs. Mai, you and Mikoto take one half of the basement."

"OK," Mai said.

"Takumi and Akira can take the other half. Tate and Sister, check that side of the first floor. Nao and Alyssa, take the other."

"Yes, ma'am," Nao replied with a mock military salute.

"Shizuru and I will go upstairs and check out the north side of the hallway. Shiho and Yukino, check the rooms on the other side of the stairs. Midori and Haruka, you two stand guard near that door and the front one in case the guy tries to use them."

"Understood," Haruka answered. Everyone moved around until they stood next to their assigned partner.

Natsuki checked the oven clock. "It's 8:45 now. Meet back here by 9:15. Go." Everyone scattered to their assigned areas of responsibility.

Over in the drawing room where Akane's and Reito's body laid, the Sister was praying for their souls while Yuichi did the actual searching. He didn't really object to doing the work by himself, though. To say these were troubling times would be a great understatement, and the Sister was simply doing her part in keeping them from losing control. Yuichi wasn't a very religious person, but he knew how people like her provide a place of sanctuary when the world seems too much.

Yuichi's thoughts were sidetracked by a sound coming from the sister. She had finished her prayers and was currently on all fours looking for something under a couch. "What's wrong, Sister?" he asked.

"There appears to be some pieces missing from the chess set," she replied. Yuichi looked at the board. A pawn of each color was missing. Since they had gotten down with the rooms rather quickly and there was still time, Yuichi decided to help her out as well.

Upstairs, Yukino and Shiho were at that point searching though the room where Alyssa, Midori, and Yukariko were sleeping. "Hey, do you know where they put that robot?" Shiho asked.

"Alyssa and I left Miyu on the bed in the corner last night," Yukino replied.

"It's not here," Shiho stated.

"What?" Shiho pointed to the empty bed.

"Miyu was there last night," a puzzled Yukino replied. "Maybe they moved her somewhere. I'll ask Alyssa when we're done."

Down in the basement, Akira and Takumi were methodically searching the leisure room, though in their own ways. Akira was tapping on the walls, floor, and (with a cue stick) the ceiling. Takumi couldn't help but be amused whenever he looked behind himself at Akira's method of investigation, in between his own searching (which was more conventional). Akira eventually noticed Takumi glancing her way on several occasions. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just amusing."

"What is?"

"You tapping all over the wall like that. Isn't that being a little paranoid?"

"I'm listening for inconsistencies."

"What does that mean?"

"A solid object sounds different than a hollow one. I'm tapping to create sound so that if I come across a hollow area, I'll know."

"Ah, I see." Takumi returned to his conventional search. He really didn't expect Akira's tapping to produce anything, but given that two of their friends were murdered in the past twelve or so hours, paranoia isn't exactly out of line here. He just hoped the methodic pace she was going at didn't take too long.

Having played the whole thing in his head a couple times, Takumi mentally berated himself for not figuring she would do something like that sooner. Attention to detail, after all, was one of her strong points. He saw it in her drawings when he surreptitiously flipped through her sketchpad, her schoolwork (she was a classic model student), her taking care of all the medical red tape while they were in America. Even in her hilarious failures in their home economics class (the "bread pipe bomb" incident in particular), Takumi noticed that she paid careful attention, as while she failed many times, each time the result had fewer and fewer mistakes. She was probably the walking definition of persistence.

"Hey, Takumi," Akira called. Takumi turned his attention to her. "Check this out." He walked over to the bar and went behind it to a spot on the wall near Akira. "Put your ear to it," she said, and Takumi obliged. Akira began tapping on the wall, changing where she tapped periodically. "Can you hear the difference?"

"I…think I do," Takumi answered. "Faintly, but when you tap near my head it sounds…"

"Hollow?"

"Yeah…" Takumi suddenly took his head off the wall. Could Akira be onto something?

"My reaction too," Akira replied. "If I'm right, there should be a way to open this somehow…" She began looking around the area for a switch when she heard Takumi let out a grunt and the sound of a door slowly opening. Her head snapped back only to see wood paneling that was slowly approaching her face. She jumped back a little before realizing it was a door.

"I guess you just open it," Takumi said from behind the door.

Akira was thankful Takumi couldn't see her blush out of sheepishness. "How did you open it?"

"An indent on my side. I managed to put my fingers there and pulled as hard as I could."

"Are you stupid or something? What if your fingers got stuck?"

"...Oops."

Akira just sighed and squeezed around the door so that she could see what was inside. Turns out she hadn't miss much: it was dark, with no windows or lights that they could see with. While Takumi's attention was momentarily held listening to a muffled conversation between Nao and Alyssa over the origins of morality (he personally found it surprising that Nao would even have an opinion about morality other than "It's garbage"), Akira slowly drifted into the darkened room, curious as to what secrets it held. By the time Takumi turned back around, he couldn't see her. "Akira-kun?" he called, stepping into the dark room. "Are you in here?"

"Yeah…" Akira's reply came, zoned off into the distance.

"Oh, OK." Takumi was about to leave the room when it closed on him before he realized what was going on. Takumi tried to push on it, but strangely this time he couldn't open it. "Uh, Akira-kun?"

"Yeah, Takumi?" Akira was apparently quite enraptured by shadows and dark places.

Takumi pounded on the door a couple times to no avail. "I think we're trapped." He banged on it again. "Hello?" he called out. "Can anyone hear me?"

By 9:15, the others had regrouped in the kitchen. "Did anyone find anything?" Natsuki asked. "We didn't."

"Nothing upstairs, then," Yukino replied.

"Same here," Alyssa answered.

"And here," Yuichi said.

"Mikoto and I couldn't find anything in the basement," Mai reported.

"Takumi? Akira? What about you two?" Natsuki asked. Everyone began looking around when no answer came forth. "Where are they?"

"You think they forgot?" Midori asked.

"Wouldn't seem like them," Mai replied. "Mikoto was making a pretty big commotion going up the stairs. I would think Akira, at least, would hear her and bring Takumi along."

"By the way, Mai…" Mikoto started.

Mikoto may be best associated with a cat, but Mai was a real sucker for puppy eyes. "Oh, alright. I'll go make you a snack." She went to the pantry and started hunting for ingredients.

"Yay!"

"You think something happened to them?" Shiho asked.

"What do you think?" Nao retorted as if the answer was obvious. "The two of them, now alone by themselves with only each other…" She let her words drift off and smiled when she saw Mai freeze and make a horrified glance at her.

"Still, it would be prudent to make sure they are all right," Shizuru stated. She barely got to finish her sentence when suddenly the power went out.

"Oh, what now?!" Natsuki exclaimed in disbelief.

"Seems the power went out, Kuga," Nao replied.

"Thank you, Queen of the Obvious. Guess we'll also have to check the power as well." Natsuki looked around. "Now I'm worried. Akira and Takumi should have come up here as soon as the lights went dark."

"Maybe something did happen to them…" Shiho said quietly.

"One way to find out," Natsuki replied. "Sister, Mikoto, and Shiho, you join Mai in finding Akira and her brother," she ordered, pointing to each one of them in turn. "Shizuru, Haruka, Yukino, and Yuichi, you guys stay here and keep watch. The rest of you, follow me to the generators."

After retrieving a flashlight from a closet, Mai lead the search party down to the basement. Once they were down, everyone began to call out for Akira and Takumi, starting in the rooms the two of them were assigned to search. They reached the recreation room but didn't see them. They turned to leave when Mikoto stopped. Mai shined the flashlight on Mikoto, who was looking towards the bar. She went over and listened carefully. "In there," she said, pointing to the wall behind the bar.

"You mean in the walls?" Shiho asked. Mai shined the light across the area.

"Yeah," Mikoto replied, nodding her head. Then she frowned and turned her attention to her ears again. "Can't hear them anymore," she reported.

"You sure you heard them, Mikoto?" Mai asked.

"Yup."

"Wait," Yukariko said. "Mai-san, please shine your light next to the cabinet."

"Here?"

"A little to the left."

"I see it," Shiho said. "There's a small indentation along the wall. Looks like the edges of a door or something," she added, leaning in for a closer look.

"Well, that's interesting," Mai remarked.

"Do you think it can be opened?" the sister asked.

"We'll have to move all this junk out of the way first if there is a door and it swings outward," Mai replied. With three people (the sister was holding the light) working on it, though, the junk was cleared and the three of them tried to open the door. The first attempt failed to budge it. On the second try, though, just as the lights came back on, the door opened fairly easily, revealing Takumi on the other side.

"Takumi!" Mai exclaimed, hugging her little brother.

"_Onee-chan!_" Takumi returned the hug.

"Thank the Lord you are all right," the sister said.

"What were you doing in there?" Mikoto asked. "Were you playing hide and seek?"

"No, we found this by accident. Well, Akira-kun did. Somehow the door closed and locked us in."

"Wait," Shiho said. "'Us'?"

"Yeah, me and Akira-kun."

Shiho took the light from the sister and shined it into the secret room, revealing only one person that was in it. "So where is she?"

* * *

_Reviews are appreciated!_


	9. Chapter 8

_Thanks for your patience. I apologize for the delay. Let's just say the last couple of weeks have been pretty crappy for me._

_ManiazAzn: Seems no one likes Reito, do they?_

_AC195 & Olivia: You'll find out. _

_Eiswulf: Heh. It's how a ninja thinks._

_Oilvia: Clue is an awesome movie. Wonder what would have happened if I had used that as my inspiration? (Takumi: It was Shiho in the Library with the Rope!)_

_rainee: Thanks for the comment._

_Naolin: Good, I'm doing something right.  
_

_Again, My-HiME is Sunrise's._

_2/11/08 _

* * *

Takumi turned around and saw what Shiho meant. "I thought she was over in the corner meditating," he responded. 

"Maybe she's up farther into the room?" Mai wondered.

"Lemme see." Shiho ventured into the room and swept the flashlight around the room like a spotlight to see if a glimpse of Akira could be caught by one of them.

"Over there!" Mai called out.

"Where?"

"I saw something too," Takumi added. "In the back left corner." Shiho shined the light in that direction, and it fell upon a body wearing Akira's clothes. Takumi rushed over to her, briefly blocking the light. "Akira-kun! Akira-kun! Are you all right?"

She made no response. Shiho and Mai reached Takumi and looked around Akira's body. Shiho swept the flashlight around in search of a clue, and came upon a displaced brick. Mai saw it as well and had a suspicion. "Shiho-chan, shine the light on Akira's head." Shiho complied, and what was revealed explained the situation. A decent-sized welt could be seen on Akira's forehead, made more evident once Takumi turned her face towards the light. "The brick must have gotten loose somehow and knocked her out," Mai guessed. She knelt down and checked Akira's condition. "Still breathing," she reported, to everyone's relief.

"We should get her out of this dusty room, though," Yukariko suggested. "It would be better if she had cleaner air to breathe."

"I agree," Mai said. "Mikoto, help Takumi and me carry Akira upstairs. Shiho, watch our path. Sister, head upstairs and tell Shizuru and the others."

Upstairs, Natsuki's group had returned back to the kitchen. "Where's Yukino?" Midori asked.

"Bathroom," was Haruka's reply. That's all she got to say when Yukariko's voice caught their attention. The seven of them hurried over to the door that led to the basement stairs, where Yukariko was trying to clear a path for Mai and the others who were carrying Akira up the stairs.

"What happened?" Yuichi asked.

"Okuzaki-san's head has been injured," the sister answered. "Please, we need a path to the drawing room cleared." Everyone complied immediately, several with concerns on their minds. Akira was laid on a sofa, and soon after an ice pack retrieved from the kitchen by Yukariko was placed on her head.

"Shouldn't we try to wake her up?" Alyssa asked. "Someone with head trauma shouldn't be asleep."

"Good point," Natsuki replied. "Any ideas?" None were immediately forthcoming, however. Natsuki thought it over until she noticed someone other than Yukino missing. "Where's Nao?"

"Where are you, you delinquent?!" Haruka called out.

"In the kitchen, grammar Nazi," Nao's voice echoed back.

"What are you doing in there?" Mai asked.

"Gimme a second." Nao entered the room with a bowl from the kitchen in her hands.

"What are you doing with that?" Takumi asked.

"Take a guess," Nao replied. She walked over to the ninja and poured water from the bowl onto Akira's face.

Akira sputtered awake. "Mai? What am I doing here?" she asked the first face she saw.

"You and Takumi were locked in that secret room in the basement," she replied. Several of the others who were hearing it for the first time began murmuring. "We think a brick fell and hit you in the head."

"Oh. That would explain why I could use an aspirin right now," Akira replied, putting a hand to her head.

"Do you need one?" Takumi asked.

"No, I'll be alright," Akira replied. "Some rest should be enough for me."

"I am thankful that you are all right, Okuzaki-san," the sister said.

"As am I," Shizuru seconded.

"We all are," Natsuki stepped in before a cacophony of relief could echo.

"Nee, Natsuki," Shizuru asked, turning to her, "how did you restore the power?"

"Someone flipped a lot of the switches off," Natsuki replied. "It took us some fiddling with the switches in the right order to get the circuits running again."

"They didn't say which ones were in the 'on' position?" Haruka asked.

"Oddly enough, no," Alyssa replied. "You'd think they would, though."

"Ah, well, at least we know we can reset them again," Natsuki concluded. "All right, now that the house is cleared, we can check the outside."

"What about Yukino?" Midori asked.

"Oh, right," Natsuki said. "How long did she say she was going to be in there?"

"Yukino rushed off pretty quickly and was clutching her stomach," Haruka replied. "If she's been in there this long…"

"I'd guess diarrhea," Natsuki replied. Haruka was a little miffed at being cut off in the middle of sentence. Mai became a little cross at that statement for its implication. "All right, um…Takumi was with Akira, right?"

"Yeah," Shiho replied. "And I was with Yukino."

"All right, you two then stay inside and watch to make sure no one comes in, OK?"

"OK," Takumi answered.

"The rest of us will go outside and search. Same pairs as before." Natsuki looked at the time. "It's 10:30 now. Come back by noon. We can share anything we find over lunch." The group dispersed through the patio doors and began searching the island itself, leaving Shiho and Takumi inside to watch the mansion.

Midori and Haruka went to check out the sheds, although Midori's search would be better described as "investigate the contents of the winery for the twentieth time". "Maybe you should marry that thing since you love it so much," Haruka snidely commented.

"Maybe if cake will be served at the wedding," Midori replied. Haruka could only stare at Midori in confusion as she continued to mumble something about a cube for a bridesmaid while continuing to examine each bottle one after another. She was becoming frustrated with being stuck with a person whose grasp on reality didn't always seem secure, mostly because she was stuck with her and therefore couldn't cover any other part of the island. Maybe she should just ditch the idiot and look around by herself.

"Where are ya going, Suzushiro?"

Oh, Haruka thought. It appears Midori wasn't totally batty. "I, uh, I thought it might be a good idea to split up. That way we can cover more ground."

"But Kuga said we should stick together."

Haruka thought fast. "Well, maybe for someone like the little brat or Mai's pansy little brother, but I think I can handle myself. Can you?"

"Of course I can! You're lookin' at one of the old members of the HiME Sentai!" Midori declared triumphantly, raising a bottle like it was a flagpole.

"Oh, that's good then," Haruka said with a little smirk on her face. If nothing else, she at least knew how those like her worked. "Don't stray too far." As Haruka walked off, she made a mental note to suggest to Mai that Midori be tagged with a collar, lest she wander off somewhere.

Meanwhile, Mai stood at the edge of the western grove, next to the beachside shed when she heard a voice call out her name. "Mai!" She turned around and saw Yuichi approaching her.

"What are you doing here? Where's the sister?" Mai asked.

"She said she needed to go to the bathroom, so she went inside."

"But didn't Natsuki say that it would be better not to be alone?"

"I think I can take care of myself." To prove his point, he made kendo moves with a broken stick that until that point Mai hadn't noticed.

"Not if he has a gun," Mai pointed out.

"Well, if he has a gun, the noise would attract everyone."

"Unless it has a silencer."

Yuichi's face fell as Mai bested him yet again. "Wait. Since when were you interested in guns?"

"Oh, um, Natsuki likes to watch action movies."

"Makes sense, I guess. By the way, where's Mikoto?"

"She went off to scout on her own because she kept getting ahead of me. I'm just worried over whether she'll be able to handle herself."

"Personally I think anyone wishing to take her on deserves the thrashing they'll get," Yuichi replied, rotating his right arm. "I'm still a little sore over that time last month." Mai couldn't help but laugh at his expense over the incident in question, when Mikoto thought Yuichi was an intruder and proceeded to whale on him before Mai could get her off.

Things, unfortunately, weren't so peachy for Natsuki when Nao and Alyssa found her sitting at the cliff beach by herself, staring out to the sea and the incoming dark clouds threatening a storm. "Oh, this doesn't look good," Nao muttered. The two approached the sitting girl from behind. "What the hell's wrong with you?

"Nao, not now," Natsuki's muffled voice said .

"Where's Fujino?" Alyssa asked.

Natsuki didn't answer. Alyssa hazarded a guess: "You two had an argument?"

Natsuki's head nodded slightly. "Oy vey," Nao said. "Just when things couldn't get worse."

Natsuki picked her head up and looked at Nao. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It's a Yiddish term of exasperation," Alyssa informed, "though why Nao would know something like that is beyond me."

"I found it one day and thought I could use it to annoy the Sister," Nao said.

"Figures you'd do something like that just to annoy people," Natsuki said. "Hey, Alyssa, go check on Shizuru and make sure she's alright," she ordered, pointing towards the back of the mansion.

"Not that I care, but why me?" Alyssa asked.

"Just go," Nao said, waving Alyssa off. "It's probably over me." Satisfied with the explanation, Alyssa jogged off, leaving Nao to play a serious counselor for once in her life.

"Pretty perceptive," Natsuki noted.

"Yeah, well, on the list of things that you and she would differ over, I'm high up there. Plus I'd have no respect for you if you're sulking over bikes or condiments."

"Well…to be honest, it wasn't all you."

"…I'm waiting."

"It's just…" Natsuki sighed, trying to find the right words. "It's just that…you know how she feels about me."

"Do I ever." It was one of the memories Nao privately wished she never had to carry.

"Yeah." Natsuki looked down at the sand. "But I don't…I don't know if I can return the favor, you know?"

"What, you can't just pretend to keep her happy?"

Natsuki looked at Nao like she was an idiot before realizing why she would suggest something so stupid. "You wouldn't know, would you? All your adventures in romance involve kicking the crap out of perverted predators. You wouldn't know a genuine relationship if it came up and slapped you in the face."

"Given that I never let them have that chance, you're right, I wouldn't know." Nao turned her head towards the sea. "So why not just end it?"

"At this stage? With someone out here trying to kill us all? You honestly think that's a good idea?"

"If that woman goes crazy, so be it. Better than living on false pretenses."

"Oh, like you're in any position to say that."

"Hey, they deserve it." Nao turned back to Natsuki and saw her raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"Oh, nothing really. I just found it surprising you'd think Shizuru isn't as low as pedophiles."

"Well…someone like her probably has enough yes-men to drive a CEO insane. Don't think she'd want another one. Kuga, look." For the first time Nao didn't seem like herself. After the Carnival she had begun to understand the delinquent, but this was something else entirely. "You're right, I don't know much about real relationships. But I know something about fake ones: they are doomed to die. They say it is better to have loved and lost, but the way this is going, you're going to get nothing at all."

"But what about–"

Nao grabbed Natsuki's shoulders. "Screw her. In any sense of the word, I don't care." Then Nao did something Natsuki didn't think she was humanly capable of doing, though in retrospect she should have figured only Nao would have the gall to do that. "If that woman is what makes you happy, go. If not, get out. Sit on the fence too long, the pole's gonna ram itself up your–"

This potential plot development was then suddenly interrupted by a very loud shriek. Both Nao and Natsuki looked towards the mansion, where it came from. "What the hell was that?" Nao asked.

"Sounded like the sister," Natsuki replied. The two of them got up and began running towards the mansion. Natsuki would have to sort out what just happened later.

The two of them ran around the back and caught sight of Mai and Yuichi rushing into the house from the patio deck. Following them inside, they saw a crowd gathering around the bathroom door. "What happened?" Natsuki called out as she approached the group, though no one was apparently paying attention to her. Natsuki rushed over to the door and looked inside. Lying face-first on the ground was Yukino, with her head pointed towards the door and her body perpendicular to the toilet. A thin wire was wrapped around her neck.

Once the truth settled in and was learned by all, Yukino's body was brought and laid in the same room as Akane's and Reito's. On Natsuki's advice, Mai went to make lunch to distract herself from the shock, with Takumi and Mikoto around to make sure she was all right. Shizuru was with Mai as well, though more for the reason that she didn't want to see Natsuki at that moment. Most of the others were around Haruka, trying to comfort the unusually vulnerable girl.

"Akira thought it was odd that Yukino was taking so long in the bathroom and wanted to check on her, but standing up left her dizzy, so Shiho went to check for her," Alyssa explained to Natsuki. "But no one answered when she knocked, and she couldn't get it open. They drafted me into service as I walked by looking for Fujino, and I managed to get the door unlocked with a screwdriver."

Natsuki sat there, hands folded and her mouth resting on it. "How in the world did she die in a locked room? The window was locked too, right?"

"Yes," Alyssa replied, "but the way the lock works, one could lock the door before closing it. It's not a deadbolt."

"But the window's double hung."

"Yeah, so there's no way anyone could have gotten into the bathroom from there. And we can't tell when she died either because no one had thought to check on her before. Great."

"On top of that," Natsuki continued, "no one saw anything outside that would indicate that anyone else was here. Are we dealing with a ghost?" Natsuki looked at Alyssa, who had a look of fear on her face. "Don't tell me you believe in ghosts."

"No, it's not that," Alyssa replied. "It's just…remember that novel from last night that the poem reminded pretty boy and me of?"

"Yeah, the mystery one?"

"Well…" Alyssa's voice died away as she had a hard time getting the words out.

"Well, what?" Alyssa's mouth twitched, but failed to emit a sound. "Alyssa? What is it?" By this point the group's attention turned to her.

"Well, given that we've searched all morning and found no sign of anyone else on this island other than us, nor have any boats come in, yet we're still being murdered one by one…I can only come to two answers."

"What are they?" Midori asked.

"One, we're dealing with the greatest assassin in history."

"Doesn't seem likely," Nao noted. "What would be his motive?"

"I know," Alyssa replied. "But I kept hoping that was the case, until I saw something that makes me believe the other answer is correct."

"What's your other answer?" Shiho asked.

"That whoever's doing this is following the novel. That one of us…is the killer." As if to emphasize her point, a thunderclap echoed in the distance.

"That's preposterous!" Yuichi exclaimed. "We're all friends here! Or, at least we're on good enough terms to not wish someone else dead…right?"

"That was what I was clinging to as well, until I noticed that." Alyssa pointed to the chessboard. Now two white pawns as well as a black one were missing. "Anyone else notice that every time one of us is killed, another pawn goes missing?"

"And?" Natsuki asked.

"At this moment, there are thirteen pawns on the board. There are also thirteen of us still alive. It was like that as well in the novel, except the author used ten statue figurines and gradually removed them as the characters died." Alyssa left it to them to put two and two together.

"Hey, guys?" Mai called from the kitchen. "Lunch is ready. Why don't we have it in the dining room?" Her voice betrayed no knowledge of Alyssa's theory. Everyone in the room got up and walked into the dining room. Their walk, though, was slow and cautious. Not everyone bought into Alyssa's theory, but everyone found themselves stealing glances from each other.

The last one in the room went a little more slowly than the rest of the group. "Nice going, Alyssa," the person said in a very quiet voice.

* * *

_Again, please R&R_


	10. Chapter 9

_Chapter's a little shorter, but on the other hand it came pretty quick, didn't it?_

_Can't believe no one seemed to have caught the video game reference in the last chapter. _

_Again, thanks to all who reviewed._

_rainee: Yeah, I'm going to leave that a mystery until next chapter._

_Eiswulf: Well, that's what happened in And Then There Were None, right?_

_AC195: Mystery, mystery... _

_Olivia: __Well, keep in mind it's one of those doors where the lock is on the doorknob, so one could set it to lock and then close it._

_wolfie: Patience, my friend._

_ManiazAzn: ...thanks for pointing that out._

_My-HiME is property of Sunrise._

_2/15/08  
_

* * *

Lunch was an even less of a social affair than breakfast had been, as the thought of the killer being one of them was an incredibly shocking and mind-numbing revelation for the gang. No one had told Mai or those in the kitchen with her about Alyssa's suggestion, as Natsuki felt Mai had more than enough guilt to live with, but even Mai knew something was wrong that couldn't be completely explained by what happened to Yukino. 

After lunch, the gang went their separate ways and tried to enjoy their vacation as much as they could, though the feeling of fear had set in just as surely as the rainstorm that precluded any further searching outside. Akira finished her meal quickly and went upstairs to rest, with Takumi accompanying her to make sure she didn't have any more dizzy spells. Natsuki and Alyssa went to the bathroom where Yukino died to see if there were any more clues to her death. Haruka returned to the drawing room where the victims laid, with the Sister following to offer a shoulder to cry on. On Mai's urging, Yuichi had gone looking for Shiho, who had disappeared somewhere. Shizuru and a sober Midori left to discuss various matters regarding the group's plans, given all that had occurred. Nao skipped out before Mai could draft her into service, leaving just her and Mikoto to clean up.

"Whoever did this was very thorough," Alyssa said, looking at the wire. "No way to tell who used it."

"No identifying marks anywhere either," Natsuki added, kneeling on the floor to look for footprints or any other identifying marks. The two had suspicions that the killer had to have hidden in the closet and attacked just as Yukino flushed the toilet, but they had no evidence to support it, and after a fruitless hour they had called it quits. As Alyssa left she ran into Yuichi. "Hey, have you seen Shiho anywhere?" he asked.

"Sorry, I haven't" she replied. "I've been with Kuga the whole time. Have you tried her room?"

"I was just there."

"Ah," Alyssa said. "Hope you find her."

"Yeah, thanks," he replied. Yuichi spent, by his reckoning, an hour and a half wandering through the halls, looking into every room to find Shiho. He eventually found a closed door which had been open the last time he remembered passing by it.

"Shiho? Are you in here?" he asked, opening the door. Shiho was in there, but her only acknowledgement of her _onii-chan_'s existence is her head turning towards the door momentarily before returning again to the window and the rain outside. "Hey. Are you all right?"

"Fine," Shiho answered unenthusiastically.

Yuichi noticed that Shiho's lip was quivering a little, though she was doing her utmost to stop it. He walked up and stood beside the chair she was sitting in. "You don't seem like it." Shiho grabbed Yuichi's arm and clung to it tightly. "Nope," Yuichi concluded, "you're not." With his free arm he managed to grab hold of a folding chair and pulled it up next to Shiho's so that he could sit. "If it's about the killer, don't worry. I'm not it, and I have faith it isn't you, either."

"It's not just that, _onii-chan_," Shiho replied, "although I'm glad you don't suspect me. I wouldn't be so scared if I could be with you."

Yuichi looked down towards the carpeted floor and let out a sigh. "Is this about Mai?"

"Yes,_onii-chan_. Ever since you stopped calling her Tokiha." Shiho paused, trying to find the right words. "I…I just…" She buried her face into Yuichi's bare arm. Yuichi felt liquid trickling from Shiho's face on it. He hoped it was only her tears that he was feeling. "Why, _onii-chan_? Why did you have to fall for her?" She took a breath. "Am I really that lagging in the three sizes?"

"What?" Yuichi then figured out what she meant. "W-well…"

"Don't lie to me. Please," Shiho pleaded.

"…All right. I'd be lying if I said what assets Mai has wasn't part of the reason. But that's not the only one."

"Is it because she's the same age as you and I'm still in middle school?" Shiho sniffed to clear up her nose.

"No, it's not that. It's just…"

"Then what is it?!" Shiho begged.

Yuichi glanced away, trying to buy time to come up with an answer. "Mai's become important to me. She's…been through hell the past year."

"She isn't the only one," Shiho retorted.

"Well, I'm not saying that what you and everyone else here went through was a walk in the park. But she's worked so hard just to be where she is now. And she keeps a smile on her face whenever she can. That's just…amazing, really." Yuichi sighed. Love isn't easy to put in words. He supposed that was why so many writers in history wrote so much about it. "I'm not going to say something idiotically romantic like, 'There was just this connection between us that formed'," he said. "I don't think love works like that. But…I guess when she's happy, I am as well for her."

"Are you saying you don't care for me anymore?" Shiho asked.

"No, no! Not at all! I don't want to see you hurt. Neither does Mai, I have her word on that. Nor anyone else here."

"Except for the one trying to kill us all."

"Well, yeah, but not because of anything you did. Whoever's doing this is seriously screwed up in the brain, so you shouldn't worry about him." Yuichi sighed. "Do you want to talk with Mai about this? I think we should."

Shiho let go of Yuichi's arm and slumped in her chair. "Maybe later. I want some time alone."

"You sure you don't want to at least come out where other people are? If the kid's suspicion is right…"

"I'll be fine," Shiho replied. "Really."

Yuichi leaned forward in his chair, his arms resting on his thighs. "All right. Let us know if you need something." He got up and left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving Shiho alone to her thoughts. For a while, the pattering of raindrops provided the only supporting music to her sad serenade. The Carnival made it obvious to everyone but her that Yuichi loved Mai, but unknown to all Shiho wasn't in the dark about Yuichi stealing glances at Mai. For weeks after the Carnival, her mind had assigned such incidents to _onii-chan_ falling victim to his Y chromosome, but even that fiction began to crack even before the gang had embarked on their nightmare vacation. Shiho knew about Yuichi's clandestine meetings with Mai when he thought she was asleep or otherwise busy, and on a few occasions had followed him. She had a lurking suspicion that the questions she had asked earlier would go the way he had answered, but until he said those answers himself, she could always have dismissed those thoughts with the possibility that she was being paranoid, that the dream of her and him together forever was still alive. But now…

Simultaneously, the small portion of her mind that was not focused on the conversation she had with Yuichi was aware of some noise emanating from the next room. She could barely make out the voices of Nao and Natsuki, as well as the sound of what seemed to be plastic toys. Soon, the patter of raindrops was accompanied by hard rock guitar music and squeaky plastic, with intermittent plunks here and there followed by one of them yelling at the other for screwing up. A quick glance revealed to her that she could hear them due to an air vent that was shared between the two rooms.

_You walk on like a woman in suffering  
Won't even bother now to tell me why  
You come along, letting all of us savor the moment  
Leaving me broken another time_

Shiho knew a few English words, but nowhere near enough to understand what in the world the singer was singing about, let alone try to do so with all that loud music distracting her, so she focused on the music itself. Ordinarily she would have likely gone over into the next room and asked them to turn it down, but at that point she wanted anything to distract herself.

_You come on like a bloodstained hurricane  
Leave me alone, let me be this time  
You carry on like a holy man pushing redemption  
I don't want to mention, the reason I know_

From the second line as well as the music itself, it sounded to Shiho like the song of some angry American railing against the unfairness of life or something.

_That I am stricken and can't let you go  
When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know  
That I am crippled by all that you've done  
Into the abyss will I run…_

The beat of the song seemed inappropriately fast to Shiho, though. Almost like a military march or something, though what she heard of the messages of most rock music seemed to contradict that. She never understood American rock. The genre seemed to be too many things at once.

_You don't know what your power has done to me  
I want to know if I'll heal inside  
I can't go on with a holocaust about to happen  
Seeing you laughing another time_

"_Onii-chan_…" she said idly, completely giving up on understanding the lyrics. Not wanting to return her thoughts there, and with nothing else, she immersed her self into the music.

_You'll never know why your face has haunted me  
My very soul has to bleed this time  
Another hole in the wall of my inner defenses  
Leaving me breathless, the reason I know_

_That I am stricken and can't let you go  
When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know  
That I am crippled by all that you've done  
Into the abyss will I run…_

_Into the abyss will I run…_

A guitar solo followed, though there were more miscues than usual here. "You suck, Kuga," Shiho heard Nao say through the vent.

"Oh, you're one to talk, Miss I'm-A-Coward-Because-I-Pick-Bass," Natsuki rebutted.

Shiho ignored the banter and listened to the solo. In a strange way, it seemed like the music was wailing. Maybe she was looking too much into it, but somehow, even though she didn't know what was being said, the music felt both appropriate and out of place.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the music ceased in the middle. Shiho took that as strange. Then she heard (faintly) the voice of Mai, followed by the crash of plastic toys onto a hardwood floor and the running of feet. _That_ she took as "something's wrong".

Shiho rushed out the door and caught sight of Nao and Natsuki rounding a corner to go up a flight of stairs. She followed them upstairs to one of the bedrooms, where she saw Natsuki standing just outside. "Kuga-san, what happened?" Shiho asked.

"Takumi said Akira wasn't breathing," Natsuki informed. Shiho glanced inside to see Mai attempting to do CPR on Akira, with everyone else no less than five feet away to give her space. Everyone present could only stand back and watch Mai try valiantly to prevent another death. But valor would not come at this hour, only futility. After a few minutes Mai gave up, crying for yet another victim.

Later, the remaining twelve sat around in the room where Nao and Natsuki were earlier playing video games. They had left Akira's body in the same room for the time being. Mai held Takumi in her grasp as he mourned. "So…" Yuichi began, "what exactly happened?"

"The sister and I were in the drawing room when Takumi busted in calling for help," Haruka said. "He said the ninja had a seizure and wasn't recovering from it. The sister went off to find Mai while I ran upstairs. When I got up there, I saw her not beating and tried splashing water on her."

"Copying a delinquent?" Nao half-teased.

"Hey, when someone's life is on the line, it's not the time to extricate," Haruka responded.

"Nao, not now," Natsuki rebuked.

"It's 'experiment'," Nao snarked before earning a death stare from Natsuki. "Continue, Haruka," Natsuki said.

"After that, I tried giving CPR, but I didn't know how, and I nearly passed out trying. That's when Mai came in."

Mai looked up, still hugging Takumi. "After Sister found me, I rushed upstairs to administer CPR while Sister went to look for anyone else she could find. I ran into Natsuki and Nao on the way up and told them about what happened. When I got there, I took Haruka's place."

"Right," Natsuki said. "The rest…we know."

"Yeah," Midori concurred.

Everyone was silent for a couple minutes, long enough for Takumi to stop crying. "D…does anyone know how she…died?" he asked. Hesitancy on the word "died" indicated that he still hadn't completely accepted the fact.

"Why didn't you get help as soon as the seizure started?" Nao asked.

"She had one this morning, and was fine afterwards," Shiho replied.

"Yeah…" Takumi concurred.

"Hmm…" Nao, for once, looked serious. "I guess I shouldn't blame you for that. Seizures have been known to occur in head trauma victims."

"Seems like your studies are actually helping, for once," Mai noted.

Nao blinked in realization. "Yeah…I suppose," she admitted.

With Mai busy, Mikoto had turned her attention to Alyssa, who was deep in thought. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

"Seizures…head trauma…apnea…" Alyssa mumbled.

"What's apnea? Is it tasty?" Mikoto asked.

"Apnea's just a fancy way of saying 'no breathing'," Alyssa explained.

"Oh," Mikoto replied. "Why do they use such a complicated word?"

Alyssa shrugged. "You know, I don't know either." Her eyes focused on the back of Takumi's head. "Wait a minute…Takumi, you said that you had left her to get an ice pack after giving her some medicine, right?"

Takumi nodded. "I just gave her a couple tablets of aspirin like what the instructions said."

"Where's the bottle?"

"I have it," Shizuru said, producing the bottle. "It was knocked over in the commotion, and I picked it up." Alyssa took it and poured out the contents onto the table. Using a pen, she sorted the pills. "Strange…" she said.

"What?" Natsuki said.

"These pills feel a little different from the others," Alyssa said. She picked one up and looked at it up close. Her head hung. "Of course."

"What is it?" Shizuru asked.

"Someone poisoned Akira," Alyssa said. "These are glass pills, and I'm willing to bet they have cyanide inside."

"Cyanide?" Natsuki asked. "Are you sure?"

"The symptoms Akira had are consistent with cyanide poisoning," Alyssa explained. "My guess is someone mixed these pills in with the aspirin. It was only a matter of luck." The announcement just made Takumi feel even worse, something which Alyssa noticed. "Don't blame yourself, Takumi: the pills could have been mixed in by anyone."

"Still," Nao asked, "how could neither of them have noticed that they felt different?" Her eyes glanced at Mai's little brother.

"Akira took the pills with water," Takumi said, not noticing Nao's glare of suspicion. "As for me…I guess I just never thought of it." His downcast eyes told the rest of the story.

Alyssa stood up. "What's up?" Mai asked.

"I want to see something," she said. Alyssa then walked out of the room and towards the drawing room. Everyone else followed her to see what she was doing. "I knew it," Alyssa said with a hint of resignation when she arrived.

"What is it?" Shizuru asked.

"Another pawn's missing," Alyssa said. Indeed, a second black pawn was not in its place. "When you factor in that cyanide poisoning is a popular method of murdering someone in mystery novels…" she added, trailing off to let them finish the thought. The clock struck 3 o'clock, as if the universe was ringing Alyssa's guess correct in its own, warped way. Even Alyssa wanted to be wrong, but there was little doubt at this point. One of their own was a serial killer.

* * *

_Again, please R & R. Song is "Stricken" by Disturbed. _


	11. Chapter 10

_Sorry for the long gap. I've been kicked around by final papers and a bunch of other things. I'm encouraged, though, by how many of you read this._

_Olivia: Hey, when you're a psychotic killer, nothing else matters. Even if the environment is less-than-sanitary._

_rainee: Man, what is with everyone and random guessing?_

_ManiazAzn: Shiho gets no love. It's kind of sad._

_EisWulf: Well, she had a headache, and a pill is a pill..._

_Thanks to all who reviewed. Enjoy._

_3/25/08_

* * *

One could tell the situation on the island had degenerated rapidly when everyone gathered in the kitchen to make sure Mai or anyone else didn't put anything suspicious into the food. This made making dinner a significantly tougher job for Mai than the previous night, as at least then every dish wasn't taste-tested at least six times. Somehow, though, dinner was prepared and eaten, and no one had any bouts of diarrhea or food poisoning or any other weird symptoms.

Mai had kept the meal simple, partly because no one was going to be able to enjoy a fancy meal anyway given the aura of fear and uncertainty that hung over the island, which meant cleaning up was a relatively simple matter even without a grieving Takumi to help. "Simple", yes, but "easy" was another matter. Twelve people still meant many dishes to clean, and by the end Mai had collapsed into a couch, exhausted by sheer numbers.

"Long day, huh?" Mai looked up and saw Natsuki in the doorway looking at her.

"You could say that."

Natsuki leaned against the doorframe. "How're you feeling?"

"At this point?" Mai sighed. "Numb would probably be the best word to use."

"Yeah, I know where you're coming from," Natsuki replied. "How's your brother doing?"

"He looks OK to me. The way he looked at dinner told me that he's handling Akira-kun's death all right."

"That's good to know."

"Any idea who the killer is?"

Natsuki shook her head. "Nothing to go on."

"I see."

Natsuki stood upright. "I gotta go check on Alyssa. She's looking over what evidence we have and trying to piece it together. You'll be all right by yourself?"

Mai gave forth a weak smile. "Don't worry about me, Natsuki. I'll be fine."

"All right then." Natsuki got up and left for the second floor bedrooms, leaving Mai alone to her thoughts. There was a reason she had declined to take up Natsuki's offer to tag along, and he walked in a couple minutes after Natsuki left. "Hey, Mai."

"Hey, Yuichi. Where's Shiho-chan?"

"I saw her walking to the bathroom on the way here. She said she'd be here soon."

"Oh, OK." Yuichi sat down in one of the chairs, and an uneasy quiet fell upon the couple save for the occasional sigh. Both of them had no wish to alienate Shiho any more than they have already.

After a couple minutes there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Mai called. The door opened and in walked Shiho, with a second person in tow. "What are you doing here, Nao?" Mai asked.

"Moral support," she replied. Yuichi raised an eyebrow in suspicion, as associating Nao with anything related to help was like Natsuki announcing that she was going to open a plushy store. Nao caught his motion and made a glare at him that said, "Keep that up and you will never sleep in peace again." "Octo-head was too scared at the prospect of seeing the two of you together like you are now, given that you're both older and bigger than her." Yuichi and Mai looked at each other, silently asking each other if the way they posed seemed to do that. Doing anything to drive away Shiho any further was not something either one of them wanted to do. Nao closed the door and Shiho sat in one of the lounge chairs. Nao took position right behind her, resting her head on the top of the chair's back.

The next half hour or so consisted mainly of the careful feeling in the dark for a common understanding between the three of them. Mai knew that it wouldn't be an easy thing to accomplish, but it had to be done. Squaring away this lingering issue was necessary for this air of oppressive unease to go away, even if nothing can be done to comfort Shiho's heartbreak. One might think that with a murderer among them that this would have been a bad time to do something like this, but Mai had two reasons to the contrary. One, confronting this issue over Shiho's feelings would help maintain cohesion in the face of this threat. Two (and this was one which Mai couldn't help but laugh bitterly about), if it turned out that they all die, at least they would go to their graves with no regrets between them.

Nao kept glancing around the three faces, mostly staying quiet (a feat which none of them failed to notice). She may have a fondness of pissing others off with snide remarks, but lately she was learning when to pull the reigns on her tongue, the "most foul of all human organs," as the sermons she had to sit through on Sundays had repeated on occasion. More importantly, she was beginning to learn when snide remarks would be taken in good grace. Though they did it in their own ways, Mai, Natsuki, and the Sister were quietly teaching Nao how to interact normally with others outside of the bait-setting her social interactions had consisted of between her mother's hospitalization and the whole HiME thing. Mai and the Sister would act more like the elder sister and mother she was missing since that day through quiet admonishing and encouragement (more really from Mai). And Natsuki would be the fellow student, learning and listening along with and sometimes between the two of them. What was odd was that none of them really sought to make Nao something she wasn't. Well, the Sister may have said things in regards to talking about R-rated subjects around Alyssa's supposedly virgin ears, but even then it didn't seem to Nao that she was trying to make her the epitome of chastity. She sometimes wondered if the three of them had gotten together and plotted this whole thing out. It was something Nao had noticed since the new school year, and part of her always noted with some acridity how seamlessly the prowling spider had been tamed.

"Shiho-chan," Mai said, leaning forward in her chair towards Shiho. "Do you understand now?"

Nao looked down to see Shiho's faced turned to the side. The energy needed to put up one of her usual protestations was long gone, sapped by the number of hours this piece of laundry had been hanging in the air. In its stead, silent contemplation ruled Shiho's face. Mai continued to speak. "I don't want this to stand between us any more. I'm sure Yuichi doesn't either." He nodded his head in approval. The three of them heard Shiho sniffle. "Shiho-chan…" Mai uttered, reaching a hand out to hold her hands.

"No, Mai," Shiho said quickly, pulling her hands away. Her voice wasn't particularly harsh, though. "I understand. I've been selfish, haven't I, Mai?"

"Damn right you were," Nao muttered, to which Mai glared a "You're not helping, Nao" look. Shiho appeared not to have heard it; she was too concentrated on her own heartbreak.

"Shiho…" Mai began, rather uncomfortable with the situation. She wanted neither to take the blame for something neither of them deserved, nor see Shiho flog herself. She sighed. "Do you want to be alone now?"

Oh, the ways which Shiho could have interpreted that incorrectly. Yet by the grace of God Yuichi spoke up. "I can get the Sister here if you want."

"T-thank you, _onii-chan_…" Shiho managed to say coherently.

"Nao, can you go get the Sister?" Mai requested as she and Yuichi stood up.

"And what are you two going to do?" Nao asked back.

"I think it would be best if we weren't in Shiho's presence for a while," Mai replied, looking over her shoulder at the stricken girl.

Nao hurried off, with no motive to complicate this new development in their triangular relationship in the midst of someone trying to kill them all. Dealing with one problem was easier than dealing with two. Up the stairs and down the hall she went, nearly trampling Natsuki over in the process after turning a blind corner. "Where's the fire?" Natsuki asked.

"I was looking for the Sister," Nao replied. "You seen her?"

"She just left to check on Alyssa in her room." Nao hurried off to retrieve the sister, leaving Natsuki to call out "You're welcome!" to her as she receded from view.

"Ara, Yuuki-san still has much to learn about gratefulness, it seems," Shizuru chided, standing in the doorway to their room.

Shizuru's voice had caught Natsuki off-guard. "Shi-Shizuru. I didn't know you were in there."

"Did I surpise Natsuki?"

"You scared me, yeah. Listen…do you want to talk?"

"About us and Yuuki-san?" Natsuki nodded. Shizuru sighed. "It might be a good idea."

Meanwhile, Alyssa sat on a bed in her room, using Yukino's laptop to organize her notes while listening to her MP3 player which was connected to it. Mikoto was in the room as well, staring out the window and into the rainy night, a leftover from Natsuki's earlier visit into the room. "This isn't like you," Alyssa noted off-handedly to the contemplative Mikoto, with some Western metal song Mikoto couldn't hope to understand playing as background music.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Mikoto replied, turning her head towards Alyssa.

"I've never seen you this calm before," Alyssa explained. "Aren't you usually a veritable source of free energy who likes to challenge the biological concept of reproductive isolation?" Naturally, Alyssa was met with a blank stare, so she rephrased the question. "How come you're not trying to glomp Mai right now?"

"Oh…" Mikoto said in understanding. "Mai said earlier that now wasn't a good time."

Alyssa accepted that explanation and returned to her work. Their situation at the moment wasn't really conducive to close moments like those. Still, that didn't explain something else. "So...why are you breathing down my neck right now?" she asked Mikoto, who was now mere inches from her face when she turned her head around.

"What are you doing?" Mikoto asked, pointing to the screen. "Ah, as curious as a cat as well," Alyssa thought to herself. "Isn't that Yukino's?" Mikoto asked.

"Well, yeah," Alyssa admitted, "but she's dead. The laptop won't be of any use to her, but it can be of use to us still alive."

"Why did you write Akane's, Yukino's, and Akira's name on there?"

"I'm listing who has died so far and how they were found," Alyssa replied, quietly noting how Mikoto left out Reito's name.

"Why?"

"Trying to see if we can get some hint from this," she replied, holding up the cryptic poem that they gang had found last night.

"Oh, OK." Mikoto noticed Alyssa's finger tapping to the beat of the music coming from the laptop. "What are you listening to?" she asked. "It sounds like what Natsuki likes to listen to."

"It's an American song," Alyssa replied.

"You know what they are saying?"

"Of course," Alyssa replied. She mouthed along when the song went "_Rally 'round the family...with a pocketful of shells._"

Mikoto kept watching Alyssa work for a couple minutes when some angry words could be heard from outside that took their attention. Alyssa figured out what was going on: "Looks like Natsuki and Shizuru are at it again." She sighed. "Doesn't sound good."

Mikoto got up and was about to see what the commotion was exactly about when she turned to see Alyssa still at the computer. "You don't want to see?" she asked with her hand on the door.

"I'm good, thanks," Alyssa replied. "Just hurry back here if you see someone missing from the commotion."

"Why?"

"I have a hunch," Alyssa answered.

"Oh, OK then." With that, Mikoto hurried out and closed the door behind her, leaving Alyssa to her thoughts, Yukino's laptop, her MP3 player, and the pattering rain outside. Alyssa sighed. She did actually want to know what was going on between Natsuki and Shizuru, but had kept it subverted. There was something greater at work here, and she wanted to know what.

The playlist moved on to the next song, a pretty sudden shift compared to the last one once the introduction was done.

_Seems like just yesterday, you were a part of me  
__I used to stand so tall, I used to be so strong  
__Your arms around me tight, everything, it felt so right  
__Unbreakable, like nothing could go wrong_

Alyssa's thoughts wandered back to Miyu. When Shiho had informed her that Miyu's body had been missing that morning, the old fear welled up again, except a little different. Not only was Miyu no longer with her, but now she can't get her back. The past couple of months have seen Alyssa become more comfortable with her former adversaries, and gradually she began to open up to them. Having had very skewed childhood experiences, it was often uneasy, but she had managed to get on speaking terms with them at least. Mikoto especially drew her interest. They say opposites attract, and whoever said that may very well have been right. Mikoto didn't attract her like Natsuki attracted Shizuru (she was too young for that, though hanging around teenagers and twenty-somethings meant that was irrelevant), but her feral tendencies was a great contrast to a mind years more developed than the corresponding body like hers.

_Now I can't breathe  
No, I can't sleep  
I'm barely hangin' on_

Truthfully, however, the only reason she was able to be on that island in the first place was because Miyu had been there to back her up. Miyu had been her only constant in her life, whether they had been for Searrs or for the HiME. The events of the previous night had shaken her badly. It was like someone had taken her crutches when she had a sprained knee a couple years ago.

_Here I am, once again  
I'm torn into pieces  
Can't deny it, can't pretend  
Just thought you were the one  
Broken up, deep inside  
But you won't get to see the tears I cry  
Behind these hazel eyes_

But what had surprised her was how she was still able to function even without her old companion. Had this been even a few months ago, she would have been despondent, lifeless as Akane when Miyu slew her Child. Yet here Alyssa was, soldering away and trying to get to the bottom of the mystery. The general acceptance of the group despite their past actions to them (except maybe Akane) probably helped, but it was almost as though Miyu knew her time was coming. Alyssa wasn't blind to the subtle moves Miyu had made whenever they were with the HiME to encourage her to interact with others. It was like Miyu was preparing Alyssa for life without her.

_I told you everything  
Opened up and let you in  
You made me feel alright  
For once in my life  
Now all that's left of me  
Is what I pretend to be  
So together, but so broken up inside  
'Cause I can't breathe  
No, I can't sleep  
I'm barely hangin' on_

A thought occurred to Alyssa. She returned her attention to the spreadsheet page with the names of the present victims, which were currently written in Japanese characters. Next to each one, she typed them out in Roman letters. Above the column, she had the courage to write out Miyu's name as the first victim of this ordeal. Alyssa stared at the spreadsheet briefly before looking back at the line in the poem which had been bothering her for a while:

_Once Mary was out of the way, the flock became stricken with paranoia._

Suddenly, the answer came to her. She went and highlighted the first letter of the first four names on the list:

**M**iyu  
**A**kane  
**R**eito  
**Y**ukino

_Here I am, once again  
I'm torn into pieces  
Can't deny it, can't pretend  
Just thought you were the one  
Broken up, deep inside  
But you won't get to see the tears I cry  
Behind these hazel eyes_

She hung her head in shame. How in the world did she not see this before?! "It's always the little things that screw you up," she said to herself. She mentally kicked herself before she calmed down and refocused on the task at hand. The lines in this poem were sown hints of who was going to die. Well, at least this will be easier to figure out who is next. Now on to Akira. Alyssa looked at the poem's next line:

_Once the black sheep were slaughtered, it was paralyzed by massive hysteria._

Black sheep? That suggests one who doesn't fit in. For Akira, that actually made sense since among the females present she was the only one who had worn a boy's uniform. "Were", though, suggests plural, so who else would be a black sheep? Haruka? Midori or the Sister? One of the boys? Or perhaps…

_Swallow me then spit me out  
For hating you, I blame myself_

Alyssa felt a shadow creep up slowly from behind her, but by this time she had figured out who it was.

_Seeing you it kills me now_

"**How long have you been standing there, Miyu**?" she asked in English.

"**Long enough, my mistress**."

_No, I don't cry on the outside  
Anymore..._

"**I guess the chip worked, then**."

"**It did****And I am sorry.**"

"**Don't be. I should have figured the chip would have allowed you to withhold information from me.**"

"**It is not that, my mistress. I am sorry for making you worry last night.**"

"**Oh, that. Don't worry about it.**"

_Here I am, once again  
I'm torn into pieces  
Can't deny it, can't pretend  
Just thought you were the one  
Broken up, deep inside  
But you won't get to see the tears I cry  
Behind these hazel eyes_

"**I take it you're not the only one behind this?**"

"**That is correct, my mistress. I am only a pawn.**"

"**And all the damage we saw last night…**"

"**Were the result of special effects.**"

Alyssa let out a quiet laugh. "**Whoever made them has a future in Hollywood.**"

"**Yes, my mistress.**"

_Here I am, once again  
I'm torn into pieces  
Can't deny it, can't pretend  
Just thought you were the one  
Broken up, deep inside  
But you won't get to see the tears I cry  
Behind these hazel eyes_

Alyssa sighed out of resignation. "**I guess it's about time, then.**" She knew Miyu could kill anyone in silence in a flash. It would have been futile to fight against Miyu, especially for a child like her. Besides, everyone was likely at this point trying to calm Natsuki and Shizuru down over whatever it was they were arguing over, and the noise and shouting would likely drown out any scream.

"**Yes, my mistress. I am sorry.**"

"**Can you fulfill one last wish, Miyu? When all this is done…find someone who can get that chip refined.**"

"**Yes, my mistress. I will do that.**"

"**You don't have to call me that, you know.**"

"**I know, my mistress. But I choose to.**"

"**Very well then.**" Alyssa closed her eyes and everything went black.

* * *

_Again, please read and review. Song credits go to Rage Against the Machine for "Bulls on Parade" and Kelly Clarkson for "Behind These Hazel Eyes"._


	12. Chapter 11

_A broken computer, final grades, and a graduation later, we're back, baby! I apologize for the great delay: I've just been dogged by life's nagging, like me getting a job or finding a grad school. I have no intention of letting this go unfinished and leave you guys hanging for all eternity._

_Several: I will be sure to pass along your condolences at Alyssa's funeral...if the gang can get off alive.  
Olivia: I hope the delay didn't sate your appetite.  
EisWulf: What game are you talking about? I'm actually curious._

_Again, My-HiME is property of Sunrise._

_8/6/08_

* * *

Haruka never liked being in this position. Being helplessly meek is not a part of the Suzushiro pedigree. It wasn't just Yukino's murder, either; she had accepted it by this point because of her refusal to lie down and die. (It was also somewhat mitigated further by all the others that have died so far, though that was something no one, not even Haruka, would admit.) She just never liked to not be in control, or at least not know what the hell was going on. But without Yukino, she was an engine with no driver, no one to give directions on which way to go. She spent the hours after dinner wandering the halls, all this energy and desire to end this ordeal moving her uncontrollably and aimlessly about before she ran into Natsuki. Through a brief conversation, she got the idea to look for Alyssa and collaborate with her.

The two of them found her sitting on her bed in the room she shared with the sister and the crazy adult among them. Haruka's eyes immediately went to what was sitting on her lap. "What are you doing with Yukino's laptop?" she asked accusingly.

"I, uh…wanted to use it in order to figure out who's trying to kill us all," the blond replied. The statement started out hesitantly but ended with confidence, which suggested that Alyssa hesitated not because she was guilty for appropriating Yukino's laptop but rather because she didn't want to say her name and upset Haruka further.

However, that seemed to have been accomplished itself on its own despite her efforts. "Or use it to further your insidious plans?"

"You think I'm the one, don't you?" Alyssa asked calmly, betraying no emotion besides raising an eyebrow over Haruka not butchering the word "insidious".

"It'd suit you rather nicely, don't you think?"

"Suzushiro, enough!" Natsuki snapped. "We came to find the killer, not play good cop-bad cop."

"It's understandable, Natsuki," Alyssa replied. "I did attack you all before." She turned to her accuser. "Look, all I can offer is my word that I'm not the one. Nothing more than either you or Natsuki can either. Can any one of us honestly say that we have verifiable alibis for every murder that has occurred so far since our arrival?"

Haruka was about to speak, but then thought it over and reluctantly conceded. "Point taken."

"So," Alyssa asked, "what brings you two here?"

"We were here to see whether you've found anything new," Natsuki said.

"Nothing, really. I was looking to use the laptop to organize my thoughts, but I haven't figured out the password."

Natsuki raised an eyebrow. "She who is smartest among us is being outsmarted?"

"Hey, she was a pretty good programmer," Alyssa replied, hoping that the compliment would soften the blow.

"Any ideas?"

"Tried all the obvious ones, but she was better than that."

"Bet you haven't tried 'Tsukigawa', have you?" Haruka asked quietly.

Alyssa stared at Haruka briefly before typing it in. "Still no good," she replied. "Well, wait…what if I used Roman letters…" She retyped the password. Still no good.

"Huh? Thought for sure that'd be it…"

"Try translating it," Natsuki suggested. "'**Moon River**', right?" she asked Haruka.

"Yeah, I think that's it."

Alyssa tried that, and Yukino's laptop finally unlocked itself. Alyssa sighed, realizing the origin of the password. "Should have figured it would be the preschool."

"Just how much _do_ you have on us?" Natsuki asked, raising an eyebrow on the preschool comment.

"Probably more than I wanted," Alyssa replied. "Former residences, medical histories, grades by year, juvenile records…" she continued, not once breaking rhythm. "Yeah, I know what you did that summer, Suzushiro."

"What's this now?" Natsuki asked, raising an eyebrow in Haruka's direction. She was clearly interested in anything that could be used as revenge for all those times she hounded her flaky attendance.

"I, uh, have no idea what you're talking about," Haruka said quickly, quite obviously lying.

"July 7th of your 3rd year in Tachikawa Middle School. Ueno Park."

"That was es-sponged! They es-sponged it, I tell you!"

"'_Expunged'_ simply means the general public can not view that record. Doesn't mean it's not there," Alyssa stated matter-of-factly.

"What exactly did she do?" Natsuki asked, eager to seize the chance to wave a piece of dirt about her student government tormentor.

"Beat the crap out of some guy who was littering."

"Oh…" Natsuki was a little disappointed. That wasn't exactly something one could taunt Haruka about. Natsuki had hoped for something a bit more indiscreet like _enjo kousai_ or something (though admittedly anyone that desperate would have some very pressing issues for the shrink to explore), and a bit less Haruka-like.

Alyssa returned her attention to Yukino's laptop, the brief silence allowing Natsuki to move in to close the matter: "Alright, well, if you figure out something, let me know, OK?"

"Yeah, of course." Alyssa looked up. "Where are you going?"

"See if there's some emergency equipment lying around that we can use to communicate with the mainland," Natsuki replied. "This place must have a back-up system of some kind in case the power fails. Like a radio or something."

"Bringing in an honest broken?" Haruka asked.

"If you want to put it that way."

"You might want to hurry if you want to call that _broker_," Alyssa noted, glancing out the window. "Looks like it'll start to rain soon. And hard."

"Fair enough. Suzushiro, you want to help?"

Haruka sighed. There was still a niggling thought in her head that said it might have been a better idea to stick around Alyssa, but taking up Kuga's offer would give her something to do with her otherwise aimless energy. "May as well."

The next ten to fifteen minutes were spent looking for other volunteers, of which Haruka's and Natsuki's efforts netted Midori and Yuichi as draftees. The four of them went off to the shed next to the beach to sift through its contents quickly before the impending rainstorm drove them indoors. But nearly thirty minutes of searching yielded nothing of use for the group, and with the rain gradually becoming a downpour, the party called it quits and hurriedly returned to the mansion before they were soaked to the bone. Natsuki, unfortunately, still got drenched thoroughly thanks to nice splash of water from a tree which could no longer hold the rain in its leaves and excused herself from the group to go dry off upstairs while the others looked through the basement and ground floor for any missed areas. She passed by Sister Yukariko on the way upstairs, who was looking for Alyssa, and point her towards her room.

Natsuki had just walked out of the bathroom having finished drying her hair when a speeding Nao nearly ran her over. "Where's the fire?" Natsuki asked tersely.

"I was looking for the Sister. You've seen her?"

"She went to check on Alyssa in her room." Nao bolted off, barely leaving Natsuki time to call out "You're welcome!" after her.

"Ara, Yuuki-san still has much to learn about gratefulness, it seems."

Natsuki nearly broke a hole in the ceiling. How Shizuru always managed to make her look stupid in every imaginable situation was simply beyond her. "Shi-Shizuru. I didn't know you were in there."

"Did I surprise Natsuki?"

"You scared me, yeah." Natuski looked at Shizuru's face, whose usual teasing demeanor was clearly attempting to shield something a little more personal for her. Hanging around Shizuru had given Natsuki the knowledge of when she was hiding something, and it didn't take long for Natsuki to guess what could be bothering her. "Listen…Do you want to talk?"

"About us and Yuuki-san?" Natsuki nodded. Shizuru sighed. Evidently the tense conversation that had developed earlier that day on the beach had been gnawing at Shizuru as well. "It might be a good idea."

Natsuki figured the other three should be able to handle the search inside the mansion without her help. "I'll be back in a couple minutes. I need to tell the others."

"I will be waiting."

When Natsuki returned, the door to their room was closed for privacy and Shizuru sat down on the bed they shared. Natsuki stood by the bookcase near where Nao's head slept at night. "So…" Natuski finally uttered after a minute of unease.

"Natsuki," Shizuru started, then stopped with a sigh. "Maybe…this isn't the best time to discuss this…I mean, with everything that has been going on here…"

"We shouldn't worry about that," Natsuki replied. "If we are destined to die here, best to do so without regret."

"Mai-san's words?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"She said something similar earlier about herself."

Natsuki thought for a moment. "Was that what Mai was waiting about for earlier?"

"Hmm?"

"Oh, uh, never mind."

"OK." More awkward silence entered. Finally, Shizuru took a deep breath and spoke. "What were you doing at the beach earlier today?"

"Eh?"

"I mean after…I left."

"Oh, um…I just…stewed around, I guess."

"A rather terse summary, is it not?" Natsuki turned to Shizuru's face, now in a shape a little too eerily familiar for her comfort. Her arms were folded.

"Wha-what do you mean?" Natsuki wasn't necessarily hiding something, but the unexpected response had left her scrambling.

"To start, I believe you left out two people in your description." Shizuru got up and began to approach Natsuki.

Natsuki, in response, started backing away. "Shizuru, what are you doing? You're scaring me."

"And you're hurting me, Natsuki."

"Wha?"

"Why are you hiding things from me? You don't trust me?"

Natsuki then realized what Shizuru was talking about. "Alright, alright!" she exclaimed so that Shizuru would stop making her uncomfortable. "Nao and Alyssa came by. I sent Alyssa to find you, and Nao and I just…talked."

"What did you two talk about?"

"About you. And me."

A burst of intensity from the rainstorm outside pounded the windows before it returned to its usual state. Shizuru looked towards the floor in front of her, and Natsuki swore she saw the skin around her eyes take on a darker shade.

In the hallway outside their room, Takumi was dragging his sister over towards the closed door, a finger placed over his lips. "Listen," he said quietly. The two of them pressed their ears against the door to try to listen in. They struggled to hear much of the conversation, though they were able to deduce that the two were not trying to sneak a cuddling moment.

"When did you say you walked by and heard them talking?" Mai asked quietly.

"Maybe a minute before I found you."

"Any idea how long this has been going?" Takumi shook his head, at which point Shizuru's voice, though still muffled and inarticulate, became audible even through the solid-core doors. The two of them turned their attention to the doors, both of them wondering just what was Shizuru apparently raising her voice about.

"What are you two doing?" Mai and Takumi turned around to see Nao looking at them. More audible but incoherent words from Shizuru's mouth, followed by Natsuki's voice trying in defense to counter whatever argument was being thrown around in the room answered Nao's question. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, the door suddenly opened, Natsuki being revealed to be the culprit. "Where are you going?!" Shizuru's voice shrieked from within the room. "We are not finished with this conversation!"

"Yes, we are," Natsuki replied just as sternly. At this point, Mai and Takumi had hastily backed away from the door to allow Natsuki some stomping space. Both of them looked on at the unfolding scene with much apprehension. Nao's eyes wouldn't leave either, though hers were more of a smug curiosity. "I've got too many things on my mind right now; we'll have to talk later." Natuski walked through the door and began to head down the hall towards Alyssa's room.

"No, Natsuki!" Shizuru's hand grabbed on to Natsuki shoulder to pull her back into the room. It wasn't entirely successful, but she was able to spin her around so that the two saw each other eye to eye. "I think I have waited plenty enough."

"But Alyssa-"

"-Is a cheap excuse to get away from this conversation and you know it," Shizuru shot back. "She can live for a half hour without you constantly checking in on her." She took a breath. "Now what exactly is going on between you and Yuuki-san?" Mai glanced over at Nao, who upon hearing her name was quietly slinking away even as the other inhabitants of the house rushed to see what all the shouting was about. "_This cannot end well,_" she thought.

Natsuki would have agreed if she was a mind reader. She understood Shizuru's personality as consisting of two main parts: the normal teasing high class girl who knew exactly how to push her buttons and elicit red on her face, and the psychotically possessive ruthless Amazon that emerged in the latter stages of the Carnival. The Shizuru that stood in the doorway before her held some element of the latter, but this wasn't the Shizuru that totaled Julia and dispatched Diana without a second thought. Not really. It was unsettling for Natsuki, to put it simply, not being sure how to handle this. After a few tense moments, she finally responded. "I told you already, you're blowing this way out of proportion. We just talked like any good…" – she hesitated to use the word _friend_ – "…pair of kindred spirits would," she ended rather meekly and unconvincingly.

"Huh! I had not been aware that times had changed so much!" The assertive yet even-tempered (at least for the moment) Shizuru that presented itself caught most everyone present off guard. Even Mai, who was privy to Shizuru's personal demons and had encouraged this alternative to develop as a way of communicating with the others without scaring everyone off, was a bit blindsided at the new approach.

"Shizuru, it was nothing."

"Nothing? You call that nothing? Dammit, you were kissing!" No one could figure out which to be more flabbergasted at: Shizuru swearing, or the bombshell revelation that followed it. "Don't deny it, Natsuki, I saw it this morning."

"I…that…"

Mai glanced down the stairs and subconsciously shifted to the side, expecting to see Nao fly up in vehement denial of something so outlandish. Mai was shocked when that event failed to pass. Was what Shizuru said was actually true? Turning her head to see, Mai saw that Nao had moved all the way to the bottom, her elbow from crossed arms and a small bit of red hair about the only thing visible around the corner.

"Answer me! What is going on between you two?" Shizuru's commanding voice demanded.

"I...I..."

"'I' what, Natsuki?!"

"I don't know, all right?!" Natsuki finally shouted. "I don't know! I don't know how I feel about that. I don't know how I feel about her. Hell, I don't know how I feel about you!" Shizuru's arm released Natsuki, allowing her to take a couple steps back into the hallway. She looked down momentarily to catch her breath and figure out what to say next. "I told you this before. I..." Natsuki's voice faded when she heard sharp breath intakes punctuated by sniffles. Looking up, she saw the glitter of tears beginning to run down Shizuru's cheeks, even though she was doing everything in her power to not let them. _Shit,_ Natsuki thought. That was the last thing she wanted to happen. "Shizuru, I-"

"No, Natsuki," Shizuru said with a sniff. "You're right. We should talk later."

"Shizuru-" Natsuki wouldn't have a chance to finish her thought, as Shizuru ran back into the bedroom, attempting to close the door but failing to do so by a few inches.

For a few moments, everyone was still, and the only sound was that of the air conditioning system running through the vents and an occasional quiet sound of sadness by Shizuru from behind the door. Finally, Mai stepped forward to try to salvage the situation. "Midori, can you go in there and check on Shizuru?"

"Yeah, sure," Midori replied, entering the room.

"Sister."

"Yes?"

"Nao's downstairs and is by herself at the moment-"

"She is?" Natsuki asked.

Mai nodded. "She heard the whole thing."

"_Ah, crap. This just got much worse," _Natsuki thought.

"Can you check on her and make sure she's OK?"

"Yes, of course." The sister walked down the stairs.

"Natsuki, do you want to talk?"

"I, well...I guess..."

"Come on, let's find a room." Natsuki nodded and began to follow Mai.

"Hey," Haruka spoke. "What about the rest of us?"

Mai looked back and saw that everyone had been attracted by the commotion that the fight caused. "Oh, whoa," she said. "Everyone's here. Um, I don't know, maybe you guys can join them."

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Takumi said. "One other person might be a big enough crowd already."

"Yeah, that's true," Mai replied. "There are one, two, three..." She noticed something was wrong, stopped, and recounted. Adding fingers for those that had just left, her previous statement was not quite accurate. _Almost_ everyone was present. "Where's Alyssa-chan?"

"Alyssa was doing important computer stuff," Mikoto reported. "She said she had a hunch, and to tell her if someone else was missing."

"Huh..." Haruka said. "Interesting."

"Oh," Mai replied. "Well, tell her that no one was."

"I'll go too," Haruka said.

"Eh? What for?"

"Just 'cause I'm curio as to what she's up to." Takumi was about to interject, but seemed to consider that close enough to "curious". Not noticing Takumi's gestures of aborted correction, Haruka walked after Mikoto towards Alyssa's room.

The many possible meanings and motives that Alyssa could possibly have had ran through Haruka's head. Certainly, the idea that the culprit might take the opportunity given by the shouting to hit someone quickly was intriguing, and seeing who wasn't there would give a good indication of who was off doing something else. However, if Alyssa was the culprit, her removing herself from the peanut gallery would definitely allow her a chance to go prepare for her next strike. From Mai's counting, there was only one missing person at the gathering: Alyssa. Her being the murderer, though, seems unlikely given both her small size and physical nature of many of the deaths so far. How could she have garroted Yukino when she can't even reach her shoulders? "_But wait,_" another part of Haruka's mind said. What if the culprit wasn't Alyssa, and he or she just didn't take the bait? If that was the case, then the trap didn't work. All these thoughts led to one conclusion for Haruka: that if Alyssa is missing from her room, she's the one. "_Wait_," that other part of Haruka's mind said. "_This would be awfully early for her to show her hand like this_." She had to concede that point. After all, there were still ten others to knock off one way or another, poor odds to start with that get worse given that she is the smallest one. It seemed doubtful to Haruka that even a mind as clever as Alyssa's can overcome that. But what if that's exactly what she-

Haruka's train of thought was derailed by a scream from around the corner. Without a word, she and Mikoto ran towards the scream. Turning the corner, they saw the sister at the door to their room, wide-eyed and with her hands covering her mouth. "What happened?!" Haruka shouted.

"Alyssa...she..." The sister was unable to complete a sentence before the two of them reached the room and peered in. There they saw Nao kneeling over a small body, lying on its side having been knocked off the bed.

"_Well,_" Haruka thought. "_We can safely assume Alyssa's not the one anymore._"

* * *

_No songs this chapter, nor anyone new getting whacked. Want to get back into the groove first._


	13. Chapter 12

_And here's Chapter 12. This took me longer than I would have liked._

_Eiswulf: Oh, yeah, I remember seeing that. Not sure if it was worth it, to be honest._

_kikyo4ever: That is something which I would like to develop._

_AC195: Thanks for the response on the drama. I wasn't sure whether I had done it right._

_ManiazAzn: Yeah, I didn't exactly make it clear when it happened. Hopefully it'll be explained more fully here._

_Olivia UL: The hard part about graduating is finding a frickin' job. Plus no health insurance._

_Again, reviews are welcome, and My-HiME is property of Sunrise._

_8/29/08_

* * *

Midori entered the room and closed the door behind her. Her thoughts about how nice the room looked became fleeting when she saw the queen-sized bed with Shizuru's crumpled form sprawled on top of it. "Hey," she said simply, pulling up a chair next to the bed. Shizuru not objecting to her presence was a good start. "You all right?"

Shizuru sniffed up some snot that threatened to stain the bed sheets before answering. "Y-Yes, Sugiura-sensei. I'm all right. I'm just…" She sniffed again.

"Here," Midori said, handing Shizuru a box of tissues from a nearby nightstand and pulling up a garbage can for her to toss them into. "Just cry it out first. Words can wait." Midori heard a faint click and looked up to see Shiho fail to enter the room silently. "Hey, kid. What are you doing here?"

"I, uh, I wanted to see how Fujino-san was doing," she replied. "Is this a bad time?"

"Is that all right with you?" Midori asked Shizuru, who nodded her assent. "No, it's OK." Midori motioned Shiho to come on over.

Shiho nodded and approached the bedside. "So…how's she doing?"

"All things considered, I think it could be worse."

"I see."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Some are with Kuga-san, some are with Yuuki-san. I think Suzushiro-san and Cat Girl went to check on the twerp, too."

"Mai's orders?"

"Not really. I mean, she told Sister to check on Yuuki-san and she went with Kuga-san, but that's it."

"And everyone else?"

"Do…whatever."

"I see." The two looked back to Shizuru, who seemed to be over the worst of it but was still shedding tears and some nasal mucus, making liberal use of the tissue box. For a few moments, no one said anything: Shizuru because she couldn't, Midori because she wouldn't, and Shiho because she sensed that she shouldn't. To be sure, there were many things that Shiho wanted to talk to her about, given that she was going through something similar as she had only a couple hours before. But their situation wasn't exactly ideal for just walking in and holding a crying festival over love woes. And so she waited.

The melancholy was shattered rather suddenly when they heard the Sister scream from outside. "What's going on?" Shizuru asked, briefly distracted from the fight.

"Can you go check, kid?" Midori asked.

"Yeah, sure." Shiho got up and walked to the door. She had barely opened it when she saw Mikoto dashing past at full speed, shouting for Mai. Turning her head towards where she ran from, she saw Haruka following. "What's going on?" she called out.

"Brat's down," Haruka said unusually tersely before sprinting past to catch Mikoto.

Some minutes of gathering the rest of the island's inhabitants to the crime scene passed. The normally composed former_ kaichou_ was now six feet from the edge of despair by now. As if Fate decided that the fight with Natsuki wasn't cruel enough for Shizuru. Now it had been deduced that the fight was likely used as a cover for whoever was behind all this to take Alyssa out. Mai and Mikoto were busy trying to pull back Shizuru from the brink, while Midori gave the Sister a shoulder to cry on. The rest huddled around the fallen body. If it wasn't for the serious nature of their situation, the rain outside would have caused Midori to find the scene as something straight from a classic detective movie. "So what now?" Nao asked.

"I don't know," Haruka replied with a sigh. "This makes six of us." For a few moments, no one said anything more, as up to now the investigation had largely been Natsuki's charge, but given recent events she was in no position to push forward. Finally, Shiho spoke up. "Where are all the victims?"

"Um, well, there's Alyssa here, and Akira's in Mai's room," Yuichi replied. "And everyone else's downstairs. Why?"

"I think…it'd be best if we put them all in the same room."

Nao raised an eyebrow. "I know you grew up in a Shinto shrine, but you have some eerily macabre interest in the dead."

"It's not that, it's just…I think it'd be proper. Besides, I don't think it would be healthy for us to keep looking at the dead."

"Out of sight, out of mind?" Takumi asked.

"Not necessarily," Natsuki added in a rather quiet voice. "Kid's got a point. I don't think any of us want to look at the dead when we go to sleep, do we?" The huddled nodded their heads. Natsuki looked up to see how the outsiders reacted: Mai was mouthing "No," and shaking her head. A glance at the emotionally-rocked Shizuru trying to find solace in Mai's arms required no further explanation. The adults were capable, on the other hand. There was just one issue to solve: "Where are we going to sleep?" Midori asked on behalf of the two of them who were just evicted from their room.

"Uh…we can figure that out later," Natsuki said finally.

While Mai and Mikoto escorted Shizuru back to her room, the rest carried the bodies one by one up the stairs and into the room where Alyssa was. There was some argument over what to do with the belongings of the fallen (especially Yukino's laptop): Haruka and the Sister thought they should be left alone, while Nao and Takumi argued that that would just be wasting resources that could help them. Midori eventually stepped in and ordered all the deceased's belongings into the "morgue" and only things which had a demonstrable use (like Yukino's laptop) should be used (and then put back).

In Shizuru's room, Mai sat and looked around the room, while Mikoto conducted a more personal investigation. "Mikoto, don't go through other people's belongings."

"Sorry, Mai. I was curious."

It wasn't like Mai could blame her. Shizuru had decided to take a shower, and by that time the gang was done moving the bodies upstairs and designating Alyssa's death room "the morgue", so there really wasn't anything pressing that needed to be done. Mikoto eventually found the stereo and turned it on on a whim. A light guitar acoustic began to waft through the room just as the door opened. Natsuki stood on the other side. "Hey, Natsuki," Mai said, looking at the door.

"Hey, Mai. Where's Shizuru?"

"Shower."

"I see."

_Desperate for changing  
Starving for truth_

Natsuki walked over to her suitcase and began packing things into it.

_I'm closer to where I started  
Chasing after you_

"What are you doing?" Mai asked. Mikoto was puzzled as well and turned her investigation from the room to Natsuki's actions.

_I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held on to  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you_

"I think it'd be best if I didn't sleep here tonight."

Mai nodded in understanding. "This isn't something one can treat lightly, after all." Natsuki just made a grunt of acknowledgement. Ordinarily Mai would have objected and would have urged Natsuki to stay and talk things through with Shizuru, but their conversation earlier had changed the situation.

_Forgetting all I'm lacking  
Completely Incomplete_"What about Nao? I highly doubt Shizuru will want to see her if you're not here."

"The sister said she'll come by later."

_I'll take your invitation  
You take of all me now_

For a few moments, the only movement in the room was that of Natsuki gathering her things.

_I'm falling even more in love with you  
Letting go of all I've held on to  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you_

Mai turned down the volume of the stereo. "Is the CD yours?"

Natsuki shook her head. "Thought it was yours." Mai shook her head to dispel the notion.

_I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and am not quite sure where to go  
And I don't know what I'm diving into  
Just hanging by a moment here with you_

"Maybe it's Shizuru's?" Mikoto suggested.

"Not the kind of music she'd like," Natsuki replied.

"Yeah, I don't figure her to be a rock fan," Mai added.

"Though, wouldn't that be something," Natsuki said idly.

_There's nothing else to lose  
There's nothing else to find_

A knock on the door took their attention away. Mikoto went over to open it.

_There's nothing in the world  
That can change my mind_

"Is Mai in?" Midori asked from the hallway.

"What is it, Midori?" Mai called.

"You busy now? I want to talk."

_There's nothing else…_

"No, I can talk. Shizuru's in the shower."

"Ah."

"I'll be right out." Mai stepped out and went with Midori into the hallway, leaving Mikoto with Natsuki to keep her company. "So what's going on?"

"How's Kuga doing?"

"She OK, all things considered. Packing her things so that she can sleep somewhere else."

"That bad?"

"Well, it's more complicated than that."

"How so?"

"You know how Shizuru accused Natsuki of kissing Nao?

"Yeah?"

"It was more the other way around."

"…They actually kissed?" Midori asked in surprise. That was certainly a sudden turn of events. Mai nodded. "If that's the case, why didn't she say so when Shizuru was saying all that stuff as is she was the one that started it? She didn't know Nao was around the corner."

"The thing is…it wasn't totally unwelcome to her."

For a moment Midori was quiet, contemplating the consequences of that response. "Oh…"

Mai nodded in affirmation. "Apparently Nao said something about getting off the fence soon right after the kiss, which I guess was referring to her dithering between the two of them."

"So that's how it is?"

"As of now, yeah." The conversation was suspended temporarily when they passed by a bathroom. Behind the locked door they heard the combination of a running shower and, of all people, Haruka's voice singing:

"_Reed Richards is elastic  
Sue can fade from sight…_"

It didn't take Midori long to figure out what Haruka was singing, nor did it take long for her to join in with someone who apparently shared her interests:

"_Johnny is the Human Torch  
The Thing just loves to fight  
Call the four!...Fantastic Four!...Fantastic Four!_"

As the unlikely duet finished, Midori ended it with a fist pump. Mai could only stand and stare with an "OK, then…" look on her face. Old _sentai_ shows were apparently not the full scope of Midori's adolescent interests; any sort of superhero team would work. Both of them were rather surprised that Haruka would even dare to show her interest in that kind of stuff.

Mai took the opportunity to try to bring the conversation back on track as the two walked on through the hallway. "You think this is a good thing?"

"Hey, me and the loudmouth have something in common. How is that not good from your point of view?"

"I _meant _Natsuki."

"Oh, right, 'course not. Maybe if this were a movie, the director would love the drama, but trust me, Mai. I know when to be serious."

"Hey, I didn't say anything about that," Mai said with her hands raised defensively.

"As for Kuga…something like this, only she can sort out."

"You think there's enough time for that?" Mai asked, glancing at "the morgue" as the two turned the corner and began to descend the stairs.

"I'm not saying that we shouldn't help her out, if that's what you thought I meant," Midori clarified. "But when it comes down to it, rushing the decision would be a bad idea."

"Next question, then. Who's going to take her-"

"Me, of course!" Midori answered triumphantly, knowing that Mai was about to ask who was to take the helm of the investigation while Natsuki sorted out her problems.

"May God help us all," Nao said aloud from the living room, having overheard the conversation as the pair was walking down the stairs while playing video games.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Midori demanded, blurring down the stairs and shoving her head into the room.

"You in charge? We'll be lucky if two of us are alive by tomorrow. Gah!" Midori was swift in her pillow punishment, which caused Nao's car in the video game to sideswipe traffic and marked the start of a very spectacular crash. "Why, thank you, Midori," Nao said half-mockingly. "You just put me up by two."

"Ba?" a confused Mai intoned, poking her own head into the room to see what game was being played.

"First to cause ten cars to crash wins," Nao's opponent Takumi explained, himself wearing a quizzical look on his face. "Though how did she get three points out of that?"

"She made you crash," third-wheel Shiho replied, scanning through the game manual. "Two points for that."

"Oh, yeah. That's the default, isn't it?"

"Mmm."

"8-6 me," Nao unnecessarily notified the group. With a pillow as a cushion for her feet, Nao used her legs as a brace to keep Midori away from further interference. It was an easily-beatable system if only Midori could take her eyes away from the spectacular graphics showcasing the sparks of cars scraping cars and the flying shards of aluminum spraying in all directions when Takumi quickly made the score 8-7. "Lucky," Nao quipped.

"Better lucky than good." For a short while, the only sounds made were of tires squealing and engines roaring, Mai having quietly left Midori to be fascinated with the newest shiny object while she herself retreated to the kitchen after a silent waving to her brother so as not to interfere with his comeback attempt. It was for naught, though: Nao ended up winning 10-9 by causing a bus to swerve and scare another car off a bridge. Handing over the controller to Shiho before Midori could try to pull seniority and cut in line, Takumi got up and went to the kitchen as well, where he saw his sister fishing in the refrigerator. "Looking for something, _onee-chan_?"

"Just something simple," Mai replied, picking out an apple and going to the sink to rinse it.

"How's Kuga?"

Mai was quiet for a moment. "She's fine, I guess. All things considered."

"And the _Kaichou_?"

"Taking a shower. It's…been a stressful evening." Mai took a bite into the apple.

"Right." Takumi took a seat on a stool. "Any idea who's behind all this?"

Mai shook her head. "Honestly, I've been too focused on this thing between Natsuki and Shizuru. And Nao."

"I see."

"You may want to ask Midori," Mai suggested. "I can tell that she's serious about wanting to get out of here alive."

Takumi gave his sister an odd look. "Are you saying you aren't?"

"Well, it's not that I don't want to live, it's just…I'm not good at this detective stuff. I think I'd be better off just entrusting it to someone else."

"Even if it turns out that that someone is the culprit?" Takumi asked hesitantly. For a moment, the two looked at each other's eyes before Takumi looked away. "I'm sorry, _onee-chan_. I shouldn't say things like that."

Mai looked at her half-eaten apple. She sighed. "No, you have a point," she conceded. "As much as I don't want to believe Alyssa, I'm not that naïve." She took another bite. "Though you've been rather steely lately too, haven't you?"

Takumi nodded slightly in agreement. "I guess so." A brief pause passed as he blinked, pondering Mai's observation. "Akira wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

"Akira-kun…" That last remark stuck with Mai, rendering her only vaguely aware of Takumi getting up and going to the bathroom with a hand on his stomach. Throwing away the apple core, she returned to the lounge but found the object of her search missing. "Where's Midori?" she asked the two girls driving so illegally it'd be a miracle if they ever pass their road tests when they got old enough.

"Lost to me badly and stormed off in a hissy fit," Nao replied.

Mai let out a sigh of disbelief, though in retrospect Midori would be the one most likely to do that sort of thing. "Whatever. Nao, do you know where the sister is?"

"Last time I saw her was in the master bedroom, moving her stuff in. It was a while ago, though."

"All right, I'll check there." Mai then looked at the screen; specifically, the user names. "Nipah?" she asked.

"Don't ask me," Nao replied, "that crazy woman thought that that name would give her an edge." Mai shrugged and left the two to their play, though it wasn't much of a play when Nao kept crushing Shiho in blowout after blowout. After two more such matches, Nao stood up. "I'm done," she announced, chucking the controller onto the couch. "It's no fun beating you up every time."

"Right."

"Man, I'm thirsty. Wonder if there's anything in the fridge." Nao got up and went towards the kitchen, leaving Shiho to play by herself, which frankly was all right by her. Between trying to come to terms with Yuichi picking Mai and all the murdering that had been going on the last couple of days, she could use the time alone. Being alone may be risky in these circumstances, but a two-person situation was just as dangerous, and three or more was difficult to gather. The lights all over the mansion were left on as a sort of unspoken agreement, making it harder for people to hide and do any dastardly deeds. In addition, the game gave her an opportunity to take out her frustration in an ultimately harmless way (after all, the only thing that was being done was a series of computer programming lines being executed). Besides, it was still raining hard outside – she had been watching some TV that afternoon before the foul weather began interfering with reception, and there was apparently a bad storm in the area rather than just some passing shower. Not a full-flung typhoon, thankfully, but bad enough so that escape wasn't really feasible even if there were boats on the island they could use.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of water-soaked footsteps. Pausing the game, she got up and looked into the hallway, where she saw Shizuru, all wet and wearing nothing but a blue towel coming out of the basement. "What are you doing?" Shiho asked.

"I was in the shower..."

"Evidently."

"…and the hot water went away."

"Oh…No one heard you scream?"

"I never scream," Shizuru said matter-of-factly. "Self-control is something that I hold dear." Shiho raised an eyebrow, thinking about the earlier fight. "Well…usually," she added.

A thought then struck Shiho. "Wonder why the loudmouth never shattered any windows complaining of the water?"

"Eh?"

"Suzushiro was in the shower as well. I passed by the bathroom she was in before coming down here and playing with Takumi and...Nao…" Shiho trailed off, unsure of whether mentioning her name in front of Shizuru was a good idea.

Shizuru wasn't affected, at least visibly, at the mention of Nao's name. "Oh, yes, I remember. I had to ask Mai to bring me a towel from that bathroom because mine had none for some strange reason. But that was almost an hour ago now..."

"Explains why you have a different color towel on," Shiho noted, remembering from random wandering on the first day that the master bathroom had beige towels stocked in them. Shiho guessed that people (herself included) kept stealing them because they felt nice.

"Do you think we should go check on Suzushiro-san? It is rather odd that she has said nothing, and I do not figure her to be a passive person."

"We probably should." With that, the two travelled upstairs to the bathroom where Haruka was. The shower could still be heard running. Shizuru knocked. "Suzushiro-san? The hot water was turned off for some reason, and we were wondering whether you were OK." No response came. "Suzushiro-san?" Again no response. "Strange."

Shiho tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Stay here," Shiho said. "I'll be right back." She ran off towards "the morgue", leaving Shizuru standing in the hallway with only a towel on and alone to explain when Yuichi turned around the corner. "Uh…"

"It is a long story," Shizuru replied, keeping her focus on the locked door.

"OK…"

Shiho soon came back. After a brief moment of hesitancy when she saw Yuichi, she resumed her focus on the locked door. Pulling out Alyssa's screwdriver that she used earlier to unlock the downstairs bathroom, Shiho unlocked this one as well. "Hey, Bigmouth!" Shiho called out as she opened the door, hoping an insult will get a response. That failed as well, worrying everyone even more.

The three stepped into the bathroom and came upon a surreal sight. The shower was still running, but the lack of steam in the room was worrisome. The hot water failed only recently: the fact that Haruka had been in the bathroom for close to an hour should have meant the mirrors, at least, would have fogged up. Yet they were only slight traces of moisture on them, and they soon saw the reason why: the window had been opened, and the colder outside night air had dissipated much of the heat. "Why in the world would she leave the window open like that?" Yuichi asked.

"I…do not believe she would," Shizuru replied, a hint of fear in her voice. The other two turned to her and saw she was looking at the shower curtains. Though closed, they could see streaks of blood running down on the far side. Shiho hesitantly approached and drew the curtains open.

The sight was in no way pretty. Inside was a naked Haruka, in a knelting heap on the far side of the tub, away from the shower, a bar of soap in her right hand. Her throat as well as other parts of her body had been slashed, the blood sliding down onto the floor of the tub and trailing into the drain. A hesitant Shizuru checked for a pulse, and then shook her head slightly.

Shiho couldn't take it anymore and bolted from the bathroom, screaming bloody murder. Literally.

* * *

_Cue Psycho music._

_"Hanging by a Moment" is by Lifehouse. The Fantastic Four belongs to Marvel Comics._

_In case you are interested, the game referred to is called Burnout._

* * *


	14. Chapter 13

_Many apologies for the long silence. I meant to post this chapter before I left a couple weeks ago for Taiwan, but was unable to finish it. Fortunately, I brought my laptop with me and managed to finish and now post it while in mainland China (the Great Firewall of China does not block FF, yay!)_

_Olivia: Hey, keeping people guessing's half the fun for me for writing this.  
MH: The more the merrier.  
ManiazAzn: "Poor Yukino"? She's been down a long time now..._

_Again, My-HiME is property of Sunrise._

_10/20/2008_

* * *

The Sister finished her prayers for the latest soul to depart from this world before she turned out the lights and closing the door to the uncomfortably rapidly filling "morgue". To call these troubling times would have been an understatement. Nearly half of those who had arrived on the island would not leave alive already, and more would follow if the murderer could not be found soon. This dream vacation had become a nightmare in a hurry, and it seemed that the person behind this had an idea of waking up that involved the permanent separation of body and spirit.

Leaving the "morgue", the Sister turned down the hall and reached the group left behind following the discovery of Haruka's fate and everyone helping her body to the "morgue", consisting of Natsuki, Midori, Mai, Yuichi, and Mikoto. "That's it?" Natsuki asked to Yuichi as the Sister approached earshot.

He nodded. "I'm pretty sure one of us would have said something if we saw something."

Natsuki released a sigh as she folded her arms and leaned against the wall. "It's like whoever's doing this is taunting us now."

"How so?" Mai asked.

"All these deaths, they're…neat. And clean. No effort at hiding the bodies. With the possible exception of Miyu, no attempts at making them look like accidents. The scenes are straight out of a movie." She let out another sigh as she closed her eyes. "Haruka especially."

"What about her?" Midori asked.

"Killed with the shower running, slicing knife wounds, blood tricking down the curtains – _Psycho_, anyone?" Natsuki said bitterly.

"_Psycho?_" Mikoto asked.

"Scary movie," Mai explained.

"Oh. Is it _Labyrinth_ scary?"

"No, it's _Alien_ scary."

A moment of silence reigned. "We must keep our spirits up," the sister said finally to break the oppressive quiet. "We ought not to let what has happened bring us down."

"How, Sister?" Mai asked. "So many of us have been killed, and one of us is doing it…"

"I know, Mai-san. But if we let whoever is doing this get in our heads, bring us down into despair…then we have already lost." She paused briefly, the howling wind of the nighttime storm the only ambience provided. "We cannot return life to the dead, yes. But we can keep their memory if we can escape." Yukariko approached Natsuki, the most visibly distraught one in the group and the one the sister's pep talk was largely directed towards. "I understand you are going through a lot, Kuga-san, but you are the best one among us in figuring these kinds of things out."

Natsuki looked up and nodded to acknowledge the sister's vote of confidence. "Right."

"Are you able to do this?"

The direct approach was not usual for the Sister, and the others were surprised that she would act this way, but nevertheless it seemed to work: Natsuki let out a another sigh, this time of determination, and placed her arms on her sides. "Yes, Sister." She got up from her leaning position on the wall and began walking down the hall.

"Where are you going, Natsuki?" Mikoto called after her.

"Getting to work," Natsuki replied as she walked towards the main stairs.

"Mai-san," Yukariko said. "Can you go with Kuga-san? She will need help."

"Yeah, of course."

"Can I help too?" Mikoto asked.

"Um, I don't think that's a good idea, Mikoto," Mai replied. "Natsuki's…having a hard time now. Yuichi, can you stay with Mikoto?"

"Sure, Mai." Mai ran off after Natsuki while Yuichi took Mikoto down the kitchen stairs to try to get their minds off of their predicament by way of food, leaving the two adults in the hallway. Midori took the opportunity to turn to the Sister. "Don't mean to demean you, but I didn't think you had that kind of thing in you."

"Eh?"

"The pep talk, I mean."

"Oh, that." The sister smiled a little bit. "I suppose it comes a little naturally when one deals with children."

"She's not a kid, though," Midori pointed out, a little confused.

"That is beside the point, Sensei. Kuga-san may know much about the world at large, but it is evident she is still as vulnerable as a child when it comes to her emotions. If I am not mistaken, she is dealing with her issues in regards to her feelings as she has dealt with them before: by running away from them."

"She's about the last person who would run away from a challenge."

"I think it would not be the first time. She has done this kind of thing before, has she not? The years before, when she sought revenge on her own?" Midori cocked her head to one side, trying to see what the Sister was talking about. "Against First District," Yukariko explained.

Midori took a moment to try to piece together what the sister was thinking. "You're saying that was a substitute for her not being able to deal with Shizuru?"

"In a way. This is just a theory of mine, but what I think is that once their friendship began to develop, there may have been hints about Fujino-san's true feelings, feelings Kuga-san might not have been comfortable with. Her vendetta against First District, which for much of her life had been her only life goal and prior to the Carnival would have still been her focus, would have provided a convenient reason for her to not think about it."

"But then once the Carnival got rolling…what Mai said about Natsuki is starting to make more sense now."

"Eh? What has she said?"

"I talked with Mai once about the events between the two of us getting KO'd and The Big Reset. She menti- GET DOWN!" Midori suddenly jumped on the sister and brought the two to the ground, knocking over a small table in the process. The high-pitched sound of breaking glass emitted from the window beyond the toppled table, followed by the sight of a rock flying at high speed at where Yukariko's head would have been had Midori not seen it coming. The rock bounced on to the floor behind them once before crashing into the far wall and coming to rest. Midori poked her head above the table to see who threw it. "You gotta be kidding me," Midori muttered.

"Who is it?" Yukariko asked.

"HEY!" Midori quickly got up and ran towards the broken window. Yukariko looked up and caught a glimpse of a figure before it fled from view. The figure looked familiar to her, and uncomfortably so. It couldn't be her…could it?

The commotion, naturally, drew everyone's attention, and the sounds of rapidly pounding feet soon echoed. Natsuki was the first on the scene. "What's going on?!"

"Miyu's alive!" Midori replied, confirming Yukariko's suspicions that she had hoped were false.

"What?!"

"You serious?" Nao asked.

"Yeah, she's the one!" Midori exclaimed to Natsuki and the quickly forming crowd as she pointed to the broken window. "She threw a rock at Sister's head. Probably would have killed her."

The group turned to the Sister, still lying on the floor behind the table. "Is this true?" Mai asked.

"Yes…" the Sister replied, obviously shaken up by the ordeal. She pointed towards the far wall where the would-be murder weapon rested near.

Natsuki glanced at the broken window. "Dammit. We need to move fast before she can kill another one of us." She looked around at the assembled group. "Midori, Nao, Tate, you guys come with me. We're going to hunt her down. Midori, get a couple of flashlights from the closet." The four rushed downstairs and soon mustered at the back door, Midori with a couple of flashlights in her hands. "What about us?" Mai asked as Natsuki opened the door to the night.

"Stay inside. Lock all the windows you can get to." The four hunters stepped out into the rain. "Turn on all the lights outside, and _stay together_." Natsuki slid the back door closed. "Someone lock the door!" she shouted from beyond the glass, to which Shiho complied.

"What's the plan?" Midori asked as the four descended the deck stairs.

"Pairs. Covers more ground, hopefully try to flush her out. Give me a light." Midori obliged. "Tate, you're with me."

"Where first?" he asked.

"Let's go…front first. You two, sweep the south first."

"And after that?" Midori asked.

"We sweep the north, you go check the west. Pincer move with the mansion as the fulcrum." Natsuki illustrated her plan in the air by curving her hands and having them make a claw-like motion.

"Got it."

"Stay alert." With that, Natsuki set off for the front of the mansion, Yuichi close behind.

"You think this'll work?" Yuichi asked Natsuki as the two rounded the corner to the front of the mansion.

"Honestly? I wouldn't bet on it." Natsuki slowed her pace as the mansion lights came on to help illuminate the area. "Right now, I'm just trying to buy time for everyone."

"Buy time?"

"If we're out here looking for her, Miyu's not likely to go for those inside because she'll have to dodge us first. Hopefully it'll give them time to bunker down."

"Defense by attack."

"Counterattack, really." Natsuki continued to sweep her flashlight into the dark to try to find any sign of Miyu. Yuichi, meanwhile, turned his attention to a basement window, through which he could see his girlfriend and Mikoto searching around. His eyes caught sight of the handle of the window, which was unlocked for some reason. He kicked on it with a foot, opening it inadvertently.

Mai looked up to the knocking to see Yuichi through the window, Natsuki's sweeping flashlight flashing in the background. "Mai! Get this window locked!" he shouted as he ran to catch up with a rapidly-moving Natsuki.

Mai gave an OK sign. "MIkoto, can you climb up there and lock it?"

"OK, Mai." Mai watched as Mikoto hopped on a couple of shelves and reach up to lock the window. "Which way do I turn it?"

"Left."

"OK, done, Mai."

"Alright, get down from there." When Mikoto descended to the floor and reached Mai, the two headed back to the stairs and up to the living room, the designated panic room that had been agreed upon. After Natsuki and company had left, Shizuru and Shiho went upstairs to secure and gather whatever they could (for there was no telling how long they would have to live on the run, in a manner of speaking), and the Sister and her little brother were responsible for the same for the ground-level rooms. She moved to the nearby intercom. "Shizuru? Shiho-chan? Where are you guys?"

A couple seconds of silence followed. "_Mai?_" Shiho's voice returned. "_We're in Kaichou's room._"

"OK. How much more do you have to do?"

"_Just this room and the one down the hall._"

"Alright. Make sure you get some blankets down as well."

"_Already ta-_" Shiho's voice was cut off by a blip that echoed throughout the mansion as the power went out. The rooms around the mansion all went dark in a hurry. Mai tried to buzz the intercom. "Shiho? Shiho? Hello?" She pressed it a couple more times before giving up.

"_Onee-chan_!" Mai turned to see Takumi in the doorway. By himself. "Where's Sister?" she asked.

Takumi turned around. He walked a few steps back into the hallway. "Sister!" he called. "I thought she was right behind me. I'll go look for her." He started to move back towards the kitchen.

"No, stay here," Mai ordered. "Watch over Mikoto. I'll look for her." Mai left for the kitchen, and soon her footsteps faded from earshot. A few minutes passed before Shizuru and Shiho entered the room from the other side, down the side staircase that connected the living room to the south wing bedrooms. The two of them were carrying blankets in case it turned out to be a long night. "Where is Mai-san?" Shizuru asked.

"Mai went to look for Sister," Mikoto replied.

"What happened to her?"

"I think she got lost."

Shiho blinked. "She got lost," she restated with more than an edge of disbelief.

"What about you two? Took you a rather long time to get back down here."

"_Kaichou_ thought it would have been a better idea to secure all the rooms upstairs. We thought your sister would be here the whole time."

Outside by the power generators to the north, Natsuki stood over the fuse box at the base of the wind generator. Yuichi stood behind her, holding the flashlight so that she could see into the console as she worked to try to restore power. She sighed in frustration as another attempt to restore the system failed. "What an ass," she muttered.

"Huh?"

"Different set of switches got flipped. Can't figure out which- hey, I could use some light, please. Hello!" Natsuki turned to see why Yuichi pulled the flashlight away from the box and saw him looking at some nearby trees with it. "What? Did you see something?"

"Thought I heard something," Yuichi replied, swinging the light at several points in the trees. Fruitless results turned the flashlight back to the box, though Yuichi's eyes kept looking around into the darkness.

Natsuki, meanwhile, kept fiddling around with the panel to no avail before she saw the problem. "Ah, God damn it."

"What's wrong?"

"The capacitors are missing."

"What?"

"Down here at the bottom. See?" The light moved to the bottom of the fuse box, where the gaps in the circuitry were revealed.

"Can't we just find some wires to reconnect them?"

"And risk shorting everything out for good and possibly killing whoever's standing too close?"

"Oh, yeah."

"No wonder you got a C- in physics last semester."

"How do you know that?"

"Your girlfriend likes to talk."

"Right. Can anything else be done here?"

Natsuki shook her head. "Not without the capacitors. I just hope Miyu hasn't chucked them into the sea." Natsuki looked west towards the beach. "Nao and Midori should be doubling back right around now. We should head out."

Natsuki, however, wasn't quite correct. "OK, I'm no saint, but even I know this ain't a good time to get wasted," Nao said as she followed Midori to the wine cellar. Nao would have just left Midori alone with her alcohol if it weren't for the fact that she was feisty, not foolish. "We should at least see what's up with the power."

"Kuga's got that covered," Midori replied, opening the door to the cellar. "Soon as the lights went out, that's the first place she'd go. Besides, they're on the northern end of the island. If something's wrong, they'll take care of it before we get there."

"You sure?"

"What, you don't trust me? I'm crushed, Nao-chan."

Nao ignored the comment. "So what are we doing here anyway?"

"Preparing," Midori replied, picking out a couple of wine bottles and examining them. "Help me find a couple of rags, will you?"

The flashlight swept around the room as Nao looked. "Don't see any here," she replied.

"Didn't think you would."

"Then why the hell did you tell me to do that?"

"One, on the off chance I was wrong. Two, to keep you busy and make sure you don't kill me here."

"Uh, I think we've established already that Miyu's the one who's been killing us all," Nao pointed out. "Hell, you were the one who saw Miyu chuck a rock at Sister's head."

"Yeah I did. But who said there was only one killer among us? I mean, two people in on this would certainly make it easier to pull something like this off."

"It'd also be at least twice as difficult to keep secret."

"That's…true. Hmm…"

"What made you think there was someone else in on this?"

"I was walking by the master bedroom when I heard Mai-" The faint clanging of a cowbell could be heard in the midst of the pattering rain. "Quiet. Kill the light."

"What was that?" Nao asked quietly, her eyes looking around for any suspicious signs.

Midori was silent for a second. "The coming of the reaper," she replied finally. Quietly but quickly, she made her way to the cellar door and slowly peered around the corner. Nao gradually drew near. "Oh, shit," Midori whispered.

"What?"

"I see Miyu. And I think she has the Sister."

Nao peered her head underneath Midori's to see Miyu leading a blindfolded and gagged Yukariko with her hands tied up towards the north side of the island. Miyu appeared to be looking around as if in search of something. "What's she looking for?" Nao asked quietly.

"My alarm system, probably." Midori's left hand ushered Nao's head back inside as the two approached the cellar door. Nao could just make out Midori whispering to herself, "I shall not fear the reaper, I shall not fear the reaper…" A few silent but heart-pounding moments passed as Midori waited for the right moment before, with a war cry that surpassed even the rain, she suddenly jumped out and tackled Miyu, sending all three of them tumbling to the wet, muddy ground. Nao switched the flashlight back on to try to see what exactly was going on.

Midori had evidently planned out her attack. "Uh-uh," she went as she quickly seized Miyu's arm and slammed it as hard as her might would allow against a nearby tree. Midori managed a couple more blows before Miyu recovered from the shock and got away from Midori's grasp, but by then the damage had been done: Miyu moved her arm in an attempt to materialize one of her blades, but nothing happened. It wasn't clear what exactly had happened during the scuffle; maybe Fortune smiled on Midori's bold attack and a weak point in Miyu's construction had been found, maybe Miyu was faking it to give them a sporting chance. Whatever it was, Midori had managed to render Miyu mortal and with this unexpected development, Miyu retreated through the woods towards the north end of the island. Midori began to give chase. "Take care of the Sister!" she shouted to Nao as she faded into the night.

Nao got to the Sister and knelt down, who began to struggle as soon as she touched her arm. "Whoa, calm down, Sister. It's just me," she said, noting later how ironic that statement would normally sound. She removed the blindfolds and gag. "You alright?"

"I am all right. Thank you."

"What are you doing out here?"

"I don't know. Last I remember, I was inside helping Takumi-kun secure the lower floor, then I think I got jumped on from behind."

Natsuki and Yuichi had not taken ten steps away from the power generators when the two of them heard Midori's war cry. With a "Let's go," Natsuki led Yuichi towards the scream but were caught off guard when Miyu sped past them, actually knocking Yuichi over on the way. The flashlight he was carrying spun to the ground. "You OK?" Natsuki asked, picking up the flashlight and briefly trying to spot Miyu before swinging the light to Yuichi.

"Ow…Did someone get the number of that truck?"

Natsuki sighed. "Get up already," she said, pulling him up off the ground with her free hand. The two of them followed Miyu's last known direction to the edge of the woods, where they saw what appeared to be Miyu's silhouette standing near the cliff's edge. Before Natsuki could jump in to try to prevent Miyu from throwing the capacitors into the sea, a second figure appeared from the side and jumped on the first. The two tumbled the ground, rolled over once, and then, with Natsuki and Yuichi both unable to react in shock, flung themselves over the edge of the cliff.

"NO!! MIDORI-CHAN!" The two heard Mai scream from behind them as she ran to where the two figures had fallen over the edge, getting down on her knees and looking over it once she got there. Finally snapping out of their stupor at what they had just witnessed, Natsuki and Yuichi caught up to Mai, who was barely looking over the cliff because she was in hysterics. Yuichi pulled Mai back from the edge and into his arms as she continued to cry for Midori. It was painful for Yuichi to see Mai this devastated, and he took little comfort in the fact that Miyu would not harm another one of them again. He turned his head up to Natsuki, who was peering over the edge. "Any sign?" he asked.

Natsuki shook her head. "Midori!" she called out to the waves. She shined her flashlight into the sea, hoping to see some sign of life. When Nao and Yukariko caught up to them and Yuichi got them up to speed, they tried to help as well.

But Midori would not return to them that night.

* * *

_Reviews are, again, welcome. I apologize in advance to any David Bowie fans out there._


	15. Chapter 14

_I would have posted this chapter earlier, but I had to go vote. And I'm preparing to take the GRE (like the SATs, but for grad school). And I'm watching the Jets game. And I'm starting a part-time job tomorrow, so I need to prepare for that as well. So...yeah._

_Chances-are and r..shyler: ...I...I don't have a response to your wishing to have Shizuru hurt/killed. I really don't know what to say.  
Joshua-san0: Was it really that unexpected?  
ManiazAzn: ...I guess that's plausible. 'Course, should you take that as evidence for or against its truth?  
Momoko: Well, there was what happened in the Carnival...  
Oliva: ...Thank you very very much for putting that image in my head. I had to go watch some Higurashi no Naku Koro ni to flush it out._

_11/13/08_

* * *

It was a solemn cloud-decorated sunrise peeking through the south window that greeted Shiho as she awoke. Solemn, but at least secure since Miyu had been caught and taken care of. Yet Shiho couldn't get the peace of mind needed for a good night's rest that the defeat of a killer should have brought. It wasn't that the crazy teacher's sacrifice didn't hit her on an emotional level; though she hadn't been particularly close to Sugiura-sensei, that someone cared enough for everyone's well-being (she was a part of that group, after all) to put her own on the line did remind Shiho that she was not just a third wheel. Nor was it Nao mentioning that Midori didn't think Miyu was alone after everyone had come inside from the rain; even if Nao was right, an ordinary person would be far easier to handle than a war machine.

Shiho sat up on her futon and began to stretch however much she could. No, what had bothered Shiho the most was the sight of her _onii-chan_ carrying Mai back in his arms. (Well, more like "assisting Mai back inside with arms wrapped around her for support", but the point is…) Nao had later explained to her what had happened at the cliff side, and she knew deep down whom Yuichi's heart belonged to, but it still hurt. Emotions weren't the type of things to follow logic on a consistent basis. It was one thing to see and accept (however slowly) that the love of her life did not love her back, at least the way she wished for. It was another matter entirely for the pain to go away, though the well of tears had dried already.

Shiho looked over at a sleeping and rather haphazardly sprawled Natsuki, her new roommate after the additional deaths and drama between everyone's favorite triangle last night called for room reassignments. Mai and Mikoto moved into the Sister's old room, bringing Nao with them. The Sister, meanwhile, moved into the grand master bedroom, where Shizuru stayed, leaving Natsuki to move into her room. The boys still had their own room, and the morgue was still full of dead people. The crazy teacher was supposed to have moved into the master bedroom as well, but last night sort of precluded that.

Shiho quietly left the room for the bathroom when she saw someone enter the hallway from the room across the hall. "Ara, good morning, Munakata-san," Shizuru said.

"Oh, good morning, Fujino-san."

"Is something the matter? You do not look well."

"No, I'm-" – Shiho let out a yawn – "fine."

Shizuru chuckled. "You are a poor liar, if I may be so frank," she said with a smile. "I can tell what is on your mind." She turned her head slightly and glanced down the hall towards the other rooms to indicate so.

Shiho looked away. Damn, was she that easy to figure out? Or was the _kaichou_ that good at reading other people? She looked back at Shizuru. "I-If you don't mind…" she began, somewhat hesitantly. This was something rather out of the blue to be asking, after all. "…would you mind if we, um, talked?"

Shizuru nodded in understanding. "About you, Mai-san, and the one you love?"

"Yeah, if that's OK with you."

"Of course. Why don't we talk on the balcony?" Shizuru opened the door to her room.

"I need to use the bathroom first."

"I shall await. Just make sure you do not wake Sanada-san. It seems she needs more rest than we do."

A couple minutes later, the two stood at the balcony, leaning on the railings for support. For a moment, the only sounds were that of the lapping waves from the shores and the occasional whistling of the wind, which would play with the long hair of both of them as it swept past the balcony.

"Beautiful…" Shiho heard Shizuru say, her face turned slightly left of center (from Shizuru's point of view) towards the sunrise trying to peek around the corner. Shiho turned her head towards it as well. "It's been a while since I've seen one."

"Do you usually get up early?"

"Yes. 'Early to bed, early to rise,' after all. Lately, though, that has proven more difficult than usual." Shizuru closed her eyes and took a breath of the morning air before reopening them. "Now, you wanted to talk, correct?"

"Right, yeah." Shiho took a breath. "I guess…you know by now what's going on between the three of us."

Shizuru nodded. "News tends to travel fast around here." She adjusted her position. "I presume, by your desire to seek out someone to talk to, that you are…your emotions are in conflict."

Shiho nodded. "On one hand, I'm…still in love with him." A tear threatened to escape her eye. Shizuru was about to say something, but Shiho wouldn't allow the opportunity. "I'll say it. No, I'll say it. I'm still in love with him. I want to be his girl. I want him to be my boy." Her head fell and rested on her folded arms. "When I get decked out head to toe in white…I want it to be…with him…"

For a while, the only sounds were made by nature, but Shizuru had a sharp eye. She saw the tear. Slowly Shizuru moved from her position closer and gingerly placed a hand on the young girl's back as she continued to cry in silence. "But on the other hand, you understand why that cannot be. Am I right?" The little girl nodded her head. Shizuru sighed. "Listen, Munakata-san. I am going to be truthful. You have surprised me with your maturity." Shiho lifted her head and turned to Shizuru, who was running her hand down Shiho's hair in an effort to comfort her. It was not tied in their usual octopus-style pigtail fashion, a result of the chance meeting earlier in the hallway and subsequent lack thereof of an opportunity to address it. "I think everyone would be. It is not easy to accept something as…jarring as this."

"Yeah, well, what good is it?" Shiho remarked with bitterness. Shizuru stopped stroking Shiho's hair, and Shiho turned her face towards her elder. "It isn't fair. The only way for everyoneto be happy is for me to be miserable. The only way for me to be happy is for everyone to hate me."

"Wait." Shizuru turned to face Shiho. "Does that need to be the case? Is it not possible for you to be happy without Tate-san?"

"That's actually something I wanted to ask you about."

"Me?"

"Yeah. I mean, with, um..."

Shizuru raised a hand. "I understand."

"Is it OK to talk about it?"

Shizuru showed a small smile. "You are pouring out your feelings. I should reciprocate and be as candid." She leaned on the railing and looked out into the distance, letting the wind play with her hair again. "I think you are mistaken in your assessment. From his actions, Tate-san is not dithering between you and Mai-san. I believe it is clear with whom he wants to be with." Shizuru paused for a moment, letting the rest of the argument be inferred. "The question, then, is whether you believe in happiness beyond."

"I see."

"Well, we have some time now," Shizuru remarked, stealing a peek in the direction of the wind power generators. "Now that this is over, we can take time to sort this out."

"Yeah, that's true."

Across the master bedroom and from the hallway, Natsuki observed the pair's conversation. She had woken up and had fallen upon the conversation through two pairs of open doors (the doors to the balcony and the door to the hallway), but did not have the will to either disturb their conversation or confront Shizuru. Well, actually, the truth was the former was an excuse for the latter. She let out a sigh. Natsuki would have to confront this eight-hundred-pound gorilla eventually. Just not when something else has been nagging as well, Natsuki thought as she turned and walked towards the morgue.

En route to the morgue she heard Mikoto from downstairs shout up: "Mai! This stain won't come out even with detergent!" Apparently, Mikoto was trying to do laundry, with Mai as a mentor.

"You didn't use the whole box of detergent on that one spot, did you?" Mai asked from her room, which Natsuki was approaching.

"No!" came the reply. "I remembered!" Natsuki thought it was rather early for Mikoto to be up, but then she thought it might be for the best, as at least it would distract Mai from the cold fact that half of them were still dead.

Mai's response, though, wasn't what Natsuki expected: "Use soda!"

"Soda?" Natsuki blurted out in confusion.

"Like Coke?" Mikoto asked, now halfway up the stairs.

"Wouldn't all the corn syrup make things worse?" Natsuki asked, looking to the ascending Mikoto for confirmation (though in retrospect that was probably a silly thing to expect).

"Oh, no no no no," Mai said quickly as she hurriedly exited her bedroom, realizing what they were thinking. "I meant club soda." Mai was met with a pair of blank stares. "Seltzer water!" she exclaimed, a little uncharacteristically flustered. "The CO2 bubbles can help remove stains."

"Oh…" the two said in unison.

"Here, let's go to the basement and see if there's some stored away somewhere." Mai joined Mikoto and the two descended down, leaving Natsuki to continue on to her original destination – namely, the morgue – and gather what she had been looking for, which turned out to be Yukino's laptop.

A couple minutes later, Natsuki sat in the living room downstairs, laptop open and running. In her left hand was the rock that Miyu had thrown at the Sister the previous night; she had picked it up sometime after the cliff-side drama. In her right hand was a small disc; it had been taped to the rock, and no one had noticed either the disc or the tape on the rock because everyone was more concerned dealing with Miyu. Natsuki opened the CD tray, placed the disc on it, and closed it. Once the drive finished reading the disc, a window popped up with a single audio file inside it. Natsuki, of course, clicked on it, and another surprise was in store for her that morning: Miyu's voice emanating from the laptop.

"_Greetings. As you may have surmised, this is Miyu. I am currently in the shed on the beach of the western part of the island. I wish to impart important information regarding your situation to whoever may be listening to this file. I am, as my Mistress would say, one of the culprits. I will not deny it. But that is an incomplete understanding of the situation._

_On April 23__rd__ of this year, my Mistress began work on a new hardware component that would allow for increased realism in imitating human behavior for androids. Both my Mistress and Sister Yukariko had previously expressed concern that shortcomings in my human behavior protocol and programming would inhibit my ability to function in a normal human situation without raising suspicion. A prototype was designed and installed in me on June 13__th__, but did not appear to function at optimal levels due to design flaws. My Mistress decided to leave the prototype hardware installed in me because, in her words, 'Something is better than nothing.' However, the truth is that the prototype hardware works as it had been designed to. The failure of my Mistress to recognize it is due to two factors: that I have been compromised since May 17__th__ of this year by others involved in the situation you are currently in, and that one of the installed prototype hardware's intention was to grant the ability to withhold information from anyone, even my Mistress._

_The majority of details about the circumstances regarding my compromise have been prohibited from dissemination by foreign hardware and software introduced into my system without risk to my survival. I cannot tell you who it was that compromised and enslaved me into their plans nor the details of how this came to be beyond this: that the foreign hardware overpowered my internal defenses and seized control of most of my functions, and that those involved are among those on the island we are on at this moment. I have been able to isolate a portion of my core systems from outside influence and have been able to reassert control over some other systems such as my voice synthesizer for short periods of time, but this requires the storing of energy leeched from my internal power system and the active dodging of foreign security measures introduced into my systems to ensure my core survival. To use a historical analogy that may help explain this situation, the foreign hardware and software installed in me is analogous to the Vichy regime of France or other puppet governments of the Third Reich, and the systems and portions thereof that I can exert at least temporary control of is analogous to the French Resistance or other similar underground movements in Europe. Sugiura-sensei, I would appreciate you refraining from making jokes related to Godwin's Law at this time._

_The reasons for my expending of energy to create this audio file stem from events that took place earlier this evening, when my Mistress was the next target. I was unable to prevent myself from her fate at that time. I was only able to assert control over my voice synthesizer and communicate with my Mistress as well as temporarily immobilize my limbs to allow a conversation, whereby I expressed my regret to my Mistress and made a promise to find one who would be able to improve the hardware installed in my system when, to quote her words, 'all this is done.' This was…an unacceptable outcome, and consequently my operation priorities have been reordered. To this day I do not understand why my Mistress insisted on leaving that feature in despite the threat it would pose to her. If I am unable to prevent the rest of the plan from unfolding and prevent the deaths of those still alive, I will keep my Mistress's wish. _

_In regards to the events on the island thus far: the sparking and shorting from my hardware that occurred during our first night on this island was staged, as was my apparent shutdown. It was I as well as the others involved in this plan who took down Kanzaki-san the first night while he was attempting to eavesdrop in on the master bedroom. It was I who took away Kikukawa-san while she was in the ground floor powder room; the others acted to ensure my actions were not witnessed. I have nothing to do with the deaths of Higurashi-san or Okuzaki-san, but neither was I able to prevent them. All these actions weigh heavily on the portion of me still conscious of my actions thus far, and I can only ask for forgiveness for my failure to prevent them._

_My time grows short, as the power reserves I have is limited and I will soon be forced to relinquish control of my motor systems, and I still must control my hands long enough to tape this disc to a rock, so note the following:_

_First, I have been able to disable my most lethal weapon systems installed on my body, so you need not worry about systems such as the grenade launcher installed in my leg._

_Second, do not waste time searching for a way to contact authorities for help: with the disabling of the antenna for cellular phones as well as the compromise of the island's emergency radio systems, there is no way to do so prior to the boating company's arrival nine days from now._

_Third, if you should be successful in removing me from this situation, I must issue a warning that the mastermind behind this plot is still among you. I cannot reveal who is controlling me without risking loss of all control, but my elimination will not end the game that they are playing._

_I have twenty-two seconds before I must relinquish control, so I leave you with this: the poem attained on the first night is of the utmost importance. The plotters use it to determine who is to be targeted. I do not know the order for certain, but it is my belief that the next two to be targeted are Sugiura-sensei and Sister Yukariko on the basis of their sacrifices during the Carnival._

_I pray for your success in ending this._"

The audio file ended, and Natsuki sat there taking in what had just happened. Or, she would have had she not been caught off guard by another voice: "Whoa."

Natsuki quickly turned her head around and met Takumi's face. "I never figured the robot had that kind of heart," he continued.

"What? You're actually buying that?"

"Hey, it would explain why Miyu seemed so easy to take down, according to Yuuki. Well, relatively easier."

"Or it could be a red herring. How long were you there listening, anyway?" she asked.

"From about when she told Midori-chan not to joke about Godwin's Law."

"What is that, anyway?"

"It says that as the length of an online discussion grows, the probability of a comparison made to Hitler or the Nazis increases to 1."

"Ah." Natsuki thought for a moment.

"What?" Takumi asked, noting Natsuki's questioning look.

"How do you know about that kind of thing?" she asked.

"You learn some interesting things in the library. Where'd you find that file anyway, in the laptop?"

Natsuki ejected the disc from the CD tray and motioned to it. "It was taped to the rock."

"The one that nearly got Sister's head?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. Wonder how no one saw it."

"Heat of the moment, I guess. I mean, we were all running around trying to get Miyu."

"True. Speaking of which, didn't she say something about the Sister?"

Natsuki thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, she said something about-" Natsuki suddenly glanced at the coffee table. "Shit!" she said aloud before jumping up and running out of the room towards the stairs, nearly spinning Takumi to the ground in the process.

Takumi was left confused until he looked at the coffee table, saw the chess set, and began counting. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. There's me, Natsuki, _onee-chan, _Mikoto, Shiho, Nao, Shizuru, Yuichi, and…Oh…" The commotion that soon took place upstairs was a foregone conclusion to Takumi once he realized what was going on.

* * *

_Again, reviews are much appreciated. The clock is ticking, the pawns are falling._


	16. Chapter 15

_Ai yai yai, this is taking longer than I wanted (time-wise). I apologize for the delay. Thank you all who have continued to stick with this as this story is now over a year old._

_ManiazAzn: Ah, yeah, I know which company you're thinking of (it was insurance). And I believe this chapter should explain the poem more thoroughly.  
EM: I do hope the next chapters will be satisfactory.  
Olivia: I'm just going to sit here and smile at your thoughts. And thank you regarding the GRE.  
Dodo: ...You'll just have to see. Man, with the way everyone's been following the story...you guys are all going to hate me when I finally reveal the ending._

_Again, Mai-HiME is property of Sunrise._

_12/15/08_

* * *

"So it's not over, then," Shiho summarized tersely as the survivors either stood or sat around in the master bedroom. The Sister was lying on the floor, her futon having become her deathbed. When Natsuki had earlier discovered that the Sister's neck had been snapped, her blanket was pulled over her head like a hospital patient who lost the fight. After a moment she spoke up again. "Could it have been Miyu?"

"Unlikely," Natsuki replied. "The cliff's at least twenty or thirty feet high and there are rocks poking through the water."

"But there was no body, was there? Or parts thereof?"

"Well, no..."

"Um, actually…" Everyone turned to see a squirming Mikoto. "I went down there this morning and, um, I found this…" Mikoto reached into her pocket and produced two objects, which she laid on the bed. One was what appeared to be a part of a broken circuit board. The second was a strange object, one side appearing to be a metallic color, the other side white with a slightly pinkish tint, almost like pale skin. "I think this might be the robot."

Several gathered around the scavenged debris before Mai, from the corner of the room, spoke up. "When did you go do there, Mikoto?" It was a very quiet voice, one that everyone knew stemmed from a shattered cautious optimism. No one could blame Mai for losing her usually perky and bright outlook, not when your friends are dying left and right.

"Before you woke up, Mai."

"That's rather early for you, isn't it?" Natsuki asked.

Mikoto thought about for a moment. Usually it was her waking up to the smell of Mai cooking breakfast. "I guess," she concluded.

"Ah, maybe she was just antsy," Takumi offered.

"Antsy?" Natsuki asked.

"Well, you know, this whole thing hasn't been kind to us-"

"That's putting it rather mildly."

"-and I guess it's just taking its toll on our bodies," he finished, taking Nao's note in stride. "I guess in Mikoto's case her internal clock gets knocked off kilter or something."

"Did you see anything else there? Like clothes or a body?" Natsuki asked. Mikoto just shook her head.

A few moments of sullenness fell over the group, which was quickly becoming an uncomfortably familiar experience. An occasional glance by one set of eyes at another peppered the sullenness. The clouds of fear and paranoia which had long been gathering and settling upon the mansion began their outright envelopment of the island. The moments became minutes, and the minutes would have become hours had Natsuki not stood up and announced that she was going downstairs. It was the opening people needed to start filing out of the room and go their more-or-less separate ways. In the end, Mai, Mikoto, and Yuichi were left in the room. The latter two mostly sat quietly (Mikoto on the bed, Yuichi in a chair when he was not fetching additional tissues) while Mai poured out her grief.

Downstairs, Natsuki buried herself again in Yukino's laptop, playing and replaying Miyu's message and scribbling notes onto a notepad. Shiho sat on a nearby couch, reading a handwritten and translated copy of the poem that lay on the coffee table. Nao watched from behind while sipping on a glass of lemonade as Natsuki continued to scribble notes onto a notepad. "You know, maybe we should trying matching up this poem with those who've died so far," Shiho suggested.

"What for?" Natsuki asked.

"I don't know, maybe we can figure out who's supposed to die when. I mean, the robot did say to pay attention to the poem." Natsuki looked at Shiho, then at her scribbles. "Doesn't seem like that's a convincing reason for you," Shiho stated.

Natsuki tossed her pencil onto the table and sat back in the seat. "Yeah, I don't, but why not? Don't think I can squeeze any more out of this." She tore the notes of Miyu's message out of the pad and put it on the side.

"Well, we should start with Mary-" Shiho stopped talking when he looked up from the poem to see Natsuki using the touchpad of the laptop, a focused face targeting the screen and not her. "What's up?" she asked as she moved closer to see what was going on. Nao leaned in slightly as well.

"Was Yukino trying to solve this…situation?" Natuski asked, waving her hands in circles in an attempt to find a word for it.

Shiho thought back to the previous day's island-wide search. "Not really. Only thing close was that Miyu was missing from her bed that morning."

"Wait, wait, wait," Nao said quickly. "Miyu was missing since yesterday morning?" She put her glass of lemonade down on a nearby table. "And you didn't think to tell us?"

"I thought Yukino had said something about that before she went to the bathroom."

Nao sighed in exasperation. "Assumptions are the mother of…" she started, her words fading into inaudibility.

"Mother of what?" Shiho asked. She never got an answer, as at that moment Shizuru entered the room with a tray holding three glasses of iced tea. All three of them looked at her, though only Shiho noticed the flash of hesitation that flew across both Nao's and Shizuru's faces when they noticed each other. "Some iced tea, everyone? I thought that you could use a refreshment," she said, showing no strain resulting from their current romantic tensions.

Natsuki hid hers as well. "Oh, yeah, thanks."

Shizuru placed two of the glasses on the table, one each for Natsuki and Shiho. "Oh, thank you," Shiho said.

Shizuru nodded slightly to Shiho before returning her attention to Natsuki. "Would you like to try it?"

"Huh? Did you make this?"

"Mai-san's brother was a good teacher."

"Ah, that's what you two were doing," Shiho noted.

"So, Natsuki? I want to know how I did."

"O..OK." Natsuki took the glass handed to her. As she raised it towards her mouth, Nao noticed that her movement became more deliberate, not naturally flowing. Natsuki took a sip and placed the glass down.

"How is it?" Shizuru asked.

Natsuki took a moment, nodding her head in the meantime slightly. "Not bad," she replied.

"_Excuse me_, _kaichou_? _Are you there?_" Everyone in the room turned to the speaker system, where Yuichi's voice came out of. "Yes, I am here," Shizuru replied through the intercom speaker once she got there.

"_Mai's calling for you upstairs._"

"Tell her I will be there," Shizuru replied. "Enjoy the drinks, everyone," she said to the group before leaving for the stairs.

Nao let a few seconds pass by before speaking up. "You got a lot of faith in her, drinking that," she said, motioning to Natsuki's iced tea. Nao was about to continue when Natsuki held up her index finger. As the other two watched, Natsuki pulled out a chained piece of metal from her pocket and dipped it into her drink. A few moments passed before she took it out. Then Natsuki swallowed. She motioned to Shiho to pass over her drink, to which she complied. Natsuki laid the metal piece on the table and, using the straw in Shiho's drink as a dropper, dropped a few drops onto the metal. She waited a moment before putting it back. "You can drink it," she said simply.

Shiho sighed. "Is that bracelet silver?" she asked as she took back the drink.

"Yeah," Natsuki nodded.

"Figured."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Nao asked.

"Silver has antiseptic properties," Shiho explained. "In ancient China, rich people and emperors would test food onto bars of silver because they'd act like acid if poison had been mixed in."

"Ah. Jewelry isn't your thing, though," Nao said to Natsuki. "Did you steal that?"

"Borrowed."

"From her?" Nao motioned her head towards the stairs. Natsuki didn't respond.

"Anyway," Shiho said, wanting to get the conversation back on finding the murderer, "About the poem-"

"Oh, yeah. I never showed you the file, did I?"

"What file?" Shiho looked at the screen.

"This one." Natsuki clicked open a file, showing a spreadsheet with various names on them. Notably, Miyu, Akane, Reito, and Yukino's name were listed, the first letters in their names bolded. Natsuki looked at Yukino's name and scoffed to herself, realizing her earlier question was stupid.

"What is this?" Shiho asked.

"Looks like notes."

"Yes, we can see that, Empress of the Duh."

"And if Yukino didn't do this, then…Alyssa most likely did." Natsuki took the copy of the poem and read through it again. "That's what she meant…" she said quietly.

"That's what who meant?" Nao asked.

"Check this." Natsuki made two columns on the blank notepad. At the top of the right-hand column she wrote down the names of all those that had arrived on the island two days prior. "OK, so, if Alyssa was right, then Mary corresponds to the first four." Natsuki drew a line to mark the first row and wrote "Mary" on the left. She then listed the first four victims on the right, crossing their names off from the master list at the top as she did so. Natsuki paused, unsure of where to take this idea next.

"Maybe we should list those who've been killed," Shiho suggested. "I mean, it was how the poem in that novel played into it, wasn't it?"

"Not quite," Natsuki replied. "The poem in the original novel listed how they died, not who."

"Oh."

"Still...Miyu mentioned names, not causes of death." Natsuki wrote down the other five to have met their end at that point: Akira, Alyssa, Haruka, Midori, and the Sister. She looked back and forth between the notepad and the poem. "Maybe…" Natsuki said quietly. Nao and Shiho watched as Natsuki wrote down "black sheep" and "sacrificed lambs" in the left column. After pondering for a moment, she then drew lines connecting Akira's and Alyssa's names to "black sheep", as well as Midori's and Yukariko's names to "sacrificed lambs." "Holy crap, this makes a lot of sense now," she concluded, dropping the pencil onto the notepad which lay on the coffee table.

"Care to explain your findings, Professor Kuga?" Nao asked. Natsuki made no reply, having effectively lost contact with reality outside of the 8 ½" x 11" piece of paper on the table.

Shiho looked over Natsuki's writing. "I think I get what Kuga's trying to get at. You know what a black sheep is, right?"

"Yeah, me."

"More generally-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Nao didn't feel like giving someone else the opportunity to feel superior.

"Well, Akira was different from the rest of us because, well…there's a couple of possible reasons: that she's a ninja, or that she cross-dressed to hide her gender, or something. Alyssa was a black sheep because she wasn't an original HiME like us."

"And 'sacrificed lambs'?"

Shiho seemed a little more reluctant to explain this part. "Well, assuming Mai wasn't lying when she told us about what happened a few months ago, Sugiura-sensei laid down her Child to protect the robot as she was rebooting, which apparently saved us all from insanity and jackboots. Sister Yukariko refused – eventually," Shiho added quickly, "to go along with the creepy art teacher's Carnival plan and let the church burn down around her while letting Mai escape."

"No reason to believe Mai's lying," Natsuki said without looking up, showing off her multitasking skills. Shiho's mouth twitched to the side but said nothing in response. "Stories both checked out with the adults."

"So what about Big Mouth?" Nao asked.

"That's what I want to know," Natsuki replied. "The obvious answer would be to put her under 'black sheep', since she's not a HiME. But then, putting her under 'sacrificed lambs' might work better if we're going by what happened…at that house."

Nao leaned back against the wall, understanding what exactly Natsuki was referring to. Shiho looked between the two, hoping in vain for an explanation as neither one of them seemed willing to explain. Eventually, though, Shiho sensed that it had something to do with the Shizuru-Natsuki-Nao Triangle that had announced fairly publically itself last night, and sought a way to change the subject before the mood worsened any more. Shiho looked at the poem once more, then at the top of the paper and counted the number of names not crossed out. "So then what about the two trinities?" The other two looked at Shiho, who circled the phrases in the poem that she was referring to. "Two trinities times three in a trinity equals six."

Shiho looked at her two elders in the room. "What, you want a gold star because you can multiply? Sorry, I'm fresh out," Nao replied.

"There's eight of us still alive. Where do the other two go?"

"There's a banshee and a wolf involved as well," Natsuki noted. She pointed to them on the poem. "Two trinities mean six people, then there's the wolf and the banshee. Add them all up and there's eight characters left for eight people still alive."

"So wait," Nao interjected. "This is two against six? There's two murderers out there? 'Cause that's what you're suggesting."

"I'm just putting out what's there."

"Two people? It might explain why the murders are being pulled off so easily," Shiho said.

"I don't know," Natsuki replied. "I would think that having two psychos work trying to work together would make this whole thing twice as hard, not twice as easy."

"Oh, come on. How can one person do all these killings without alerting any one of the rest of us?" Shiho's eyes narrowed at Natsuki. "Unless you can…"

"Oh, son of a-" Natsuki chucked her pencil in frustration towards the chessboard. A few pieces clattered from the collision. "Look, I'm trying to help here! Just because I've had those kinds of experiences…"

"I don't know what kind of motive you'd have, but opportunity would certainly be there for someone with your skills, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, and what about you? Everyone knows you want Tate. All that stand between you is his-"

"Don't patronize me, fence-sitter! At least I know who I want!"

"Don't change the-"

Three hard slams against the doorframe put an abrupt end to the shouting match. The two belligerents looked at the source. "I hate to interrupt this wonderful discussion," Nao said, "but there's something wrong."

"What, that-"

Nao smacked Natsuki on the top of her head to make her shut up, earning a glare. "How about letting me finish talking?" She pointed at the chessboard. "Notice something wrong there?"

"Fine, Mother, I'll clean it up later."

"How about trying to count the pawns?" The other two looked at the now-scattered chess pieces. Despite Natsuki's earlier pencil-throwing, there were no pieces on the floor, yet all three of them counted only seven pawns.

In a flash of panic Natsuki jumped to the floor on her knees and looked under the sofas, hoping to find the eighth pawn. It was to no avail.

"Then that means…" Shiho started to say before her voice faded from audibility.

Natsuki got up in a hurry and rushed to the intercom, bumping the coffee table in the process and spilling some of the iced tea. She pushed the call button. "Hello?" No response. "Mai? Mikoto?" A momentary pause. "…Shizuru?" She kept pushing the call button, but no response came. Natsuki pounded the intercom speaker in frustration. "Goddammit." She rushed past Nao and stomped up the stairs. "C'mon, Octo-head. We should be present for roll call," Nao called.

"Never thought I'd see the day you'd ever say that," Shiho replied, taking her drink as the two followed Natsuki's path. En route they encountered Yuichi, who was emerging from the bathroom. "What's going on?"

"Another pawn's missing."

"Damn. What do we do?"

"Follow The Overcaffinated Woman," Nao answered, motioning to where Natsuki had run.

Up ahead, Natsuki went room by room, calling for help. Down the main stairs, through the dining room and kitchen (where she caught sight of the reason why the mansion's intercom wasn't working: someone had pried open the master console located there and evidently tampered with it), on the deck, in the downstairs study – she had found no one, and Natsuki grew increasingly more panicky. She backtracked through the kitchen, nearly bowling over the three trying to keep up with her. "Where's Mai?" Natsuki asked Yuichi when she saw him.

"Last I saw her was up in the master bedroom, so I don't know."

Natsuki was incredulous. "You LEFT your sobbing girlfriend by herself? What the hell kind of boyfriend are you?!"

"Hey, she asked me to leave her alone with the _kaichou_!" Yuichi answered, his hands raised in defense. "I just took the opportunity to use the toilet."

"What about Cat Girl?" Nao asked.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her since right after we left Mai."

"Odd. She wasn't anywhere near the master bedroom when I got there," Natsuki thought aloud. "Knowing her, she'd have wanted to stick around Mai, so why wasn't she there?"

"And what about Mai's little brother?" Shiho asked. "And the _kaichou_?"

"The best we can do is to keep looking for them," Natsuki concluded. "Let's split up. Munakata, come with me; we'll check outside. You two look in the basement." She glanced at the oven clock. "10:40 now. We meet back here by 11:00."

"Hold it," Yuichi interrupted. "What if one of us is the killer?"

"Pairs would be a perfect opportunity to add another to the body count," Nao added, stealing a glance at Mai's boyfriend.

"Then don't come back without the other. Simple." With that Natsuki turned and walked briskly towards the back door.

"That means you, too!" Nao shouted after Natsuki. If Natsuki heard it, she didn't do anything to show that she did. Shiho began to follow Natsuki, but stopped about halfway to the door. "You guys know where the secret room is?" Both of them shook their head. "Behind the bar in the room with the pool table," she said quickly before hurrying to catch Natsuki.

"Wait, a secret room?" a confused Yuichi asked.

"You forgot the room that your girlfriend's brother's girlfriend got conked in the head?"

Yuichi blinked repeatedly for a moment. "Oh, that room."

"C'mon, before Kuga and Octo-head get back."

"Why the rush?"

"They're covering the entire outside," Nao said as the two descended the stairs. "If we take longer than them, that'll bring some unnecessary worries."

"It's not like you to be worried about other people's well-being."

"Hey, I don't know about the rest of you all, but I like being alive."

Outside, Natsuki and Shiho combed the island up and down, left and right. Neither the docks nor the winery had given any progress. "Not here either. Where the hell are they?" Natsuki asked as they finished checking the power generators. She looked over at Shiho, who was looking over the cliff. "You see someone down there?" she called.

Shiho turned her head and shook her head. "I was just thinking…"

"About…" Natsuki prompted.

"There's got to be a way to service that pump," she continued. "I mean, if it breaks, it'd take a lot of time and money for a plumber to get here from the mainland and have him try to fix it in a boat."

Natsuki laid down on her stomach and peered over the cliff at the pump. "You think there's an underground way of getting there? It would make sense. Thing is, I haven't seen any way to get there."

"You got a point…"

Natsuki glanced northwards. "Well, there's still the beach up that way, and that shed. Could be something we missed inside it." The two set off.

"What if the door is inside the mansion?" Shiho asked after several yards.

"Nao and Tate will probably see it. If it is inside, it'd most likely be in the basement. You told them about the room that Akira got hit in the head in?"

"Yeah, I did, but they won't know to look for it."

"We'll ask them when we get back. It'll be right under our feet; it isn't like we can't check it out for ourselves."

The two trekked down the trail in silence. Shiho looked at Natsuki several times, wanting to have some kind of discussion, but Natsuki's face scared her out of it. It was the kind of face that had earned Natsuki her Ice Queen title at the academy. It almost convinced Shiho that she would be safe with the lone wolf, for the face she had on was single-tracked and focused, not one that would seem to be plotting a grisly fate for everyone.

Shiho's observations were cut short when Natsuki suddenly stopped. She said "Mai" quietly before breaking into a sprint. Shiho looked up and saw Mai sitting next to the shed, her head buried into her arms. Shiho raced to catch up as Natsuki reached Mai. "Mai!" she called as she got down on one knee. "God, you look awful. What are you doing out here?"

"I…I wanted to take in some fresh air after talking to _kaichou_. But I got here, and I started crying again because of everything that's happened here and…Mikoto wanted to play with me, but I…" Mai let out another sniffle. It took a little bit for her to bring out the next part: "I said some things that were mean…and…and they hurt Mikoto, and she ran away…" She buried her head into her arms again.

"Mai…" Natsuki wrapped her arms around her. Shiho moved in closer as well, though she was hesitant to touch Mai for fear of provoking a negative reaction. She didn't know whether Mai would chew her out even though she had nothing to do with anything, and there wasn't any point in alienating oneself in their situation.

"Why am I doing this?! If someone's not killing my friends, I'm pushing them away!" Mai cried out. "She was just trying to cheer me up, make me feel better…God, I am such a terrible person…"

"Mai? I think we should get up, stretch your legs out." Natsuki tried to hook Mai's arm around her own neck, but Mai pulled it away. "Leave me alone, Natsuki!" Mai shouted at Natsuki, taking both of them aback before Mai's head returned to her arms. "Please…"

"Shiho, can you check out in the shed, see if there's any door or anything in there?" Natsuki whispered to Shiho.

"What about you?"

"I'll stay out here and watch over her from outside the doors."

"All right." The two moved to the front of the shed, where Shiho entered and Natsuki stayed outside. Her focus was mainly on the broken Mai. "Please, Mai, stop," Natsuki said to herself. "Don't do this. You don't deserve it." Natsuki would glance occasionally inside to see Shiho's progress, but even then her thoughts remained on her crumpled friend.

"I can't lose you now."

* * *

_Please read and review. If I don't get another chapter around quickly, may you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year._


	17. Chapter 16

_Well, Happy New Year to you all! Thanks again for sticking with this irregular updating schedule._

_Joshua: Hmm. Interesting theory you have there.  
Kaede and EM: The answer to your question lies within...  
ManiazAzn: Man, no one ever gives Shiho any love. It's so sad.  
kikyo: Trust is a dangerous thing. Trust the wrong person and you lose...big time.  
__Olivia: This soon enough?  
Raven: The original name of the work by Agatha Christie was Ten Little N------- (I'm not kidding). It was changed to Ten Little Indians when it was released in the US, but by the time I read the book it was apparently deemed too politically incorrect still, so it became And Then There Were None._

_My-HiME is property of Sunrise._

_12/30/08_

* * *

"So…how's things?" Yuichi made an attempt at small talk in order to lighten the atmosphere, though it was akin to using a wet matchstick to light up a cave. Even if someone out there wasn't trying to kill them all, Nao was not normally inclined to do small talk unless she was after your wallet.

"Still breathing. Counts for something," Nao said after a moment. The two were going around the basement room by room, saving the secret room for later as they didn't know how exactly it worked and betting that if someone tries to use it, they'd hear it, therefore they wouldn't waste time trying to open it themselves. The minutes passed without words, only the clatter of objects being moved around so as to check every imaginable crevice: behind tables, under boxes, on top of shelves. When the other rooms were cleared, the pair moved to the recreation room. "Shiho said the room was behind the bar," Yuichi recalled. "Should we check there first?"

"Might as well." The two spent the next ten or so minutes searching for a way to get behind the wall to no avail, and they disengaged from the bar's back wall in order to regroup. Yuichi sat on a barstool on the bar's left side while Nao took a seat on the edge of the billiard table. Yuichi kept staring at the scene, scanning up and down for something that they had missed. He sighed. "What are we missing?" He glanced over at Nao, who was amusing herself by playing with several billiard balls. "What are you doing?"

"Being bored," came the reply.

"You mind directing your boredom towards something more beneficial?"

"Fine." Nao hopped off the table, striking the base of the table with her heel on the way, which threw off her balance. "Gah!" she yelled as she fell face-first to the floor. Nao picked herself up before Yuichi had a chance to offer a hand, although when she turned to face him she found he wouldn't have anyway: his head was still focused on the bar. "You know, if you want to be a good boyfriend, you might want to pay attention to Mai if something like this happened," Nao said, but that still elicited no response. Confused, she followed his eyes to the right side of the back case, which had opened slightly to reveal the secret room. A dumbstruck Nao stated the obvious: "That wasn't there before."

"It opened up just now."

"By itself?"

"Yeah."

Nao turned around to look at the pool table and saw the probably answer: an indent in the side of the table where Nao's heel had struck. The hole was in a neat square shape, so it had to have been purposely built that way (had Nao simply made a hole in the table, it would have had jagged edges from splintering wood). She pushed the square with her finger a couple of times and saw it depress and return flush with the rest of the table, confirming her suspicions. That question answered, she returned her attention to the bar, where Yuichi had managed to open the door wider into the secret room. "Hello?" he called. "Anyone in there?" No response came back. The two looked into the darkness for a moment. "We should get a light," Nao said finally.

"Not without you," Yuichi replied. "I'm not giving an opportunity for you to disappear."

"Fair enough." The two walked back upstairs, retrieved a pair of flashlights, and returned downstairs again to the recreation room. "Ladies first," Yuichi said, showing the way into the dark.

"And show an opportunity to conk my head? I think not."

"Well, by the same reasoning, I wouldn't go first either."

"Fine, we go in side-by-side."

"Deal." The two stepped into the dark, lock step with each other as agreed upon. Their flashlights made a pair of white circles on the far concrete wall, flying around to reveal what the darkness contained. "See any way through?" Yuichi asked.

"Nope, just a stack of florescent light bulbs."

"Hmm." On a whim, Yuichi kicked the back wall. It didn't yield; in fact, Yuichi's foot bounced off of it with considerable speed because of the force he applied. "Guess that doesn't work," he noted once he regained his footing and made a 180 back to face the wall. "Ow."

"Maybe it did," Nao responded. Her flashlight pointed to where his foot had contacted the wall. About a foot or two above it, a panel had swung open from the vibration of Yuichi's kick, revealing a keypad. The panel itself, when Nao went to inspect it, had been painted meticulously to match the concrete wall it laid on, explaining why neither of them had seen it before. "So…any idea what the code is?"

"Hmm." Yuichi's flashlight swept the room again and fell upon the stack of florescent light bulbs, which upon closer inspection didn't appear to be ordinary florescent lights. "Hey, I think these are black lights," he said. He picked one up. "And this one appears to have a plug," he added, raising it further to show Nao the power cord trailing from it. "Maybe we can use this to see what buttons are pushed."

"That's rather convenient, isn't it?" Nao asked. "A keypad to advance and a method of finding out how to advance right next to it?"

"Yeah, but what else do we have? At this point it's either walk into a trap or run around without any idea what's going on. The latter is doom for all of us, so I'd rather gamble now. Is there an extension cord around here?"

"Might be one in the storage cabinet out there." The two walked out of the secret room and to the cabinet. "When did you grow a pair and become all decisive?" Nao asked. "A few months ago, you were the epitome of indecision."

"When you know what you want in life, things become different," Yuichi replied as he opened the cabinet and looked.

"Hmph. Guess Mai's had an effect on you."

Yuichi paused momentarily. "Not really Mai," he replied.

Nao raised an eyebrow. "You still want Octo-head?"

"That wasn't what I meant," Yuichi said quickly. "I mean, yeah, going out with Mai's been a blast, I won't deny that."

"Doesn't take much to impress you, does it?"

"But Mai's not the reason why I'm no longer the epitome of indecision, as you put it. That you can pin on Reito."

"Pretty boy? Did his gay pheromones infect your DNA or something?"

"No," Yuichi replied as he pulled out a coiled-up roll of extension cord. "He forced my hand." He began walking to the other side of the room and the nearest outlet to the secret door, leaving Nao to catch up. "Did Mai ever tell you what happened in that weird cave a few months back?"

"Roughly. I remember her saying you two had a swordfight."

"That was what changed things." He plugged the extension cord into the socket, and the end of the black light into the other end. He turned it on to make sure it worked.

"So you two clashed pieces of metal and that gave you an epiphany?" Nao asked Yuichi as he shuffled into the secret room backwards.

"Something like that."

"…I don't get men," Nao concluded.

"At least those that go beyond their primal instinct, you mean?"

"Right."

"I'll leave it at this, then: I concluded that a relationship built on guilt isn't one worth pursuing." Yuichi finished talking just as Nao reached his side. He scanned the keypad with the black light. Fingerprint marks showed up on keys 3 through 6, as well as the pound key. "You think we can figure out who's behind all this by fingerprinting everyone?" Nao asked.

Yuichi shook his head. "Too smudged, can't see them clearly enough. Pound's probably the 'enter' button…Five's is real faint, so my guess is that's probably a finger slip…This one looks real strong compared to the others. It might be in there twice..." His voice trailed off. The two stood there for a few seconds in silence before Nao pushed Yuichi to the side with a "Got it". She punched a total of five buttons. A muffled sound of a lock coming undone emitted from the left wall, which Yuichi pushed to reveal a door hiding a second passage way. His flashlight fell upon a switch, which Yuichi flipped to reveal the hallway lined with a few lights. "Guess that was it," he replied. "How'd you figure out the code so fast?"

"When you text as much as I do, words in alphanumeric code become easy to recognize," Nao replied, walking around Yuichi and into the hallway, switching off her flashlight en route. "You coming or what?"

The two followed the lights down the hall, which turned and twisted for no apparent reason. After turning a corner they saw a closed door on the far side of that hallway. From underneath the bottom of the door they could see that the room behind it was dark. They took a couple more steps before a series of dull thumping sounds emanated from the door. Nao raised a hand and moved slowly to the right wall, minimizing the sound of her footsteps. Yuichi quickly figured out what Nao was trying to do and mimicked her movement on the other side. The two slowly and stealthily (in a comical sort of way) made their way to the door, which they pressed up next to on either side after checking down the next hallway.

Nao listened closely to the thumping pattern. "S…O…S…" she mouthed. As the doorknob was on Yuichi's side, he motioned to Nao to turn on her flashlight and shine it into the room as soon as he opened the door. Nao made no movement of assent, simply turning on her flashlight and pointing it at the left side of the door. Yuichi's hand slowly reached for the doorknob, grasped it, and carefully began turning it. When the knob turned as far as it would, he glanced at Nao to see if she was ready, then flung the door open and hid. Nao's light scanned the room for a few seconds before being joined by Yuichi's. The thumping continued, but the lights revealed no one in the room, only storage boxes and some hardware tools stacked in shelf after shelf. The two entered the room when Yuichi found a switch and flipped it, revealing it to be a storage room.

"Who's there?" Yuichi called. A muffled voice responded, spurring the two around the corner, where they found a bound, gagged, and blindfolded Shizuru. Nao worked to remove Shizuru's bindings while Yuichi addressed her. "_Kaichou!_ What happened?!"

"I do not know," Shizuru said when the gag was removed. "I had left Mai-san at the beach when someone apparently captured me from behind."

"Why did you leave Mai by herself?" Yuichi asked.

"We had forgotten to take something to drink before going outside, and Mai-san said she had become thirsty. At the same time, Mai-san has been grieving, and I surmised that the time it would take me to walk back and return would be sufficient time alone for her to let out her sorrows."

"You weren't afraid of the killer getting you or Mai?"

"Mai-san had insisted that I leave her alone. As for me…I cannot say." Shizuru looked away briefly, as if embarrassed.

"Did you see who did this to you?"

"I am afraid not. I was caught from behind, and my assailant never spoke."

"So it's just one person behind all this?" Nao asked as she worked to untie the ropes.

"I am not sure."

"OK, but why leave you alive? If you were this vulnerable, why aren't you dead already?" Yuichi asked.

"Might be the poem," Nao replied. "Perhaps it's not her turn yet."

"The poem?" Shizuru asked.

"Miyu left a message warning us that the poem lists who will die next. Kuga found it taped to a rock."

"I see."

"Have you seen Mikoto or Takumi?" Yuichi asked the two helped Shizuru to her feet. "They're missing too."

"I have not. I am sorry."

The three had left the storage room and reentered the hallway when a thought occurred to Nao. "Hold it. There's no way whoever did this to you could have gone through the secret room in the basement and threw her in there without one of us noticing something." She turned to Shizuru. "How did you end up in there?"

"Nao, this is no time-"

"No, Tate-san, it is a fair question," Shizuru interrupted. She was silent for a moment. "I was outside when I was caught, and it is my impression that either the shed or the winery holds an entrance to this tunnel."

"You don't know which one?"

Shizuru shook her head. "I was blindfolded quickly, so I do not know which one it was."

"But you knew it had to be indoors?"

She nodded. "The blindfold allowed light through, and it became dark at one point." She held up her blindfold to the nearest light to illustrate. "I also heard a wooden door open and close."

Yuichi looked down the two hallways that branched to the left and right of the door. "You know which way you were taken?"

Shizuru closed her eyes for a moment. "I believe…it is that way, Tate-san," she answered, pointing to the left.

"Let's go, then." Unfortunately, Shizuru was incorrect, as that hallway led to a door that opened to reveal stairs leading not upwards, but downwards to a room filled with machinery. The room itself was carved out of the rock, with the far end open to the sea beyond. After a minute of studying just what they had found, Yuichi asked, "I suppose this was the wrong way?"

"I am afraid so," Shizuru replied. "My apologies."

"Whatever. At least we know how to get to the water pumps and stuff now." The three turned around and retraced their steps. "When was the last time you saw Mikoto or Takumi?" Yuichi asked.

"I last saw Tokiha-kun in the kitchen when he helped me make drinks this morning. As for Minagi-chan, she was looking for Mai-san as I was walking away from the beach, and I directed her to Mai-san."

"I'm guessing it's soon after that you got caught?"

"Yes."

"I suppose it couldn't have been someone short that got you," Nao said aloud, glancing at Shizuru's rather tall figure. "Otherwise, there's no way they would have been able to blindfold and gag you."

"At least, not without help," Yuichi replied. "If the killer's acting alone, then we can rule out Shiho, Takumi, and Mikoto."

"'Course, there'd have to be only one bad guy for that to apply."

"You're assuming Miyu's wrong?"

"For all we know, it could be a fake. Miyu's story may be true, or it may be an elaborate tale to try to appeal to people's hopeful side. There's simply no way to tell."

"Could the handwriting be analyzed?" Shizuru offered. "Perhaps Kikukawa-san's computer might be used, and I remember seeing a scanner-"

Nao cut Shizuru off. "It's not a note; it's an audio file on a disc."

"Oh."

"Miyu's a robot; you think she'd take the time to find a piece of-" Nao was interrupted by a faint and muffled scream which appeared to come from further down the hall.

"Sounded like Shiho," Yuichi said with a hint of fear. The three hurried down to the end of the hall, where they found a makeshift door made of plywood. Nao, who got there first, opened it to reveal a steep and somewhat narrow flight of stairs that ascended into darkness.

"This must be it," Shizuru replied when she saw the stairs. "I remember the stairs being difficult to traverse."

"Shiho!" Yuichi shouted up the stairs. "Shiho! Can you hear me?!" No response came back. Yuichi pounced up the stairs as fast as he could despite the darkness, Nao and Shizuru following behind him. All of a sudden, Yuichi let out a cry of pain, and Nao got an unpleasant surprise when Yuichi all of a sudden tumbled backwards and knocked into her. Shizuru managed to sidestep the pair in time, who stopped falling about halfway down the staircase.

"Oh…"

"You mind getting off of me? You weight a frigging ton."

"Are you all right?" Shizuru asked. "What happened?"

"I think my head hit a door or something…oh…" Yuichi continued to groan in pain as he rolled off of Nao.

Shizuru stuck her hand out and cautiously moved up the stairs until she felt the door Yuichi was talking about. She pushed it open, revealing a surprised Natsuki who was in the midst of jumping back from the door. "Jesus, Shizuru! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Ara, are you sure it is not from all that mayonnaise?"

Shizuru, once again, succeeded in flustering Natsuki with her teasing. "N-Not now, Shizuru. What are you doing in there?"

"I can ask the same of you, Natsuki."

Natsuki moved her head and, with a little effort, was able to see who was behind Shizuru in the dim light. She let out a sigh. "At least they're safe." As Natsuki moved out of the way, Shizuru could see a bent over Shiho just outside the door to the shed, trying to recollect herself. Mai was in even worse shape, curled into a fetal position and leaning against the door. It was then that Shizuru first took note of the strange music being played somewhere and floating around the shed. Nao poked her above ground. "Hey, Kuga. What's up with the music? And what's wrong with Octo-head and Mai?"

"And where are Tokiha-kun and Minagi-chan?"

Natsuki hesitated to respond, which gave both Shizuru and Nao a bad feeling about the answer. After a couple of failed tries to explain the situation verbally, Natsuki pointed behind their heads, trying to keep a stiff upper lip.

When the two turned around, they were not prepared for the scene that presented itself to them. A boom box which seemed to have been knocked out of a cardboard box laid front-side down on top of a large box. Evidently, that was the source of the music. But it was what surrounded the boom box that finished the deal: Takumi and Mikoto. From the fact that their positions were awkward and yet neither had moved was enough to tell the two of them that they were the next victims. Both of them were lying on their side, which allowed the viewer to see the apples jammed into their mouths, though the trails of dried blood stemming from the back of their heads suggested that that was the cause of death. When Yuichi's head popped up and turned to look, his eyes were only there for a moment before he had to look away because the sight was so disturbing. When it was noticed that each body was lying on top of a green tarp, the picture became clear: whoever killed them took the time to arrange the bodies to make them look like a roasted pig dish, complete with the green tarp as a stand-in for lettuce and the apple in their mouths.

A few minutes passed while everyone save Mai recovered from the shocking scene. While Shizuru stayed outside with Mai, who was still debilitated by the scene, the other four went to dismantle the homicidal work of art: Yuichi and Shiho took Mikoto's body and went out first, Natsuki and Nao picked up Takumi's body. Halfway out the shed, though, Nao looked back at the scene. She stopped. "What's up?" Natsuki asked.

Nao squinted a bit into the dim light. "There's writing on the tarps."

Natsuki turned around while Yuichi and Shiho walked back inside to get a closer look. Sure enough, there was writing in black marker on the tarps. However, it was in English and was not the neatest work of penmanship in history, so no one knew immediately what it read. After a couple moments, though, Natsuki looked at the ground, mouthing words to herself. Yuichi noticed. "You know what it says?"

"Yeah…I think."

"OK, what do you _think_ it says?" Nao asked.

Natsuki looked up at the other three. "Choose or Lose."

* * *

_Again, please read and review._


	18. Chapter 17

_Another chapter, another death. Who's it gonna be?_

_MartialHorror: Who said Takumi was alone?  
Kaede Shinomori, Olivia, EM: You have no idea.  
PhantomBlaze: I'd be going "Eeexcellent" and tapping my fingers together like Mr. Burns, except I don't remember exactly which trick you're talking about.  
BlackJaded: I have to say, it was one of the few books in any English class I wanted to read through.  
Olivia: Oh, yeah, I remember that scene!  
Ushiromae: Such is the allure of the mystery novel. What can I say?_

_Again, My-HiME belongs to Sunrise._

_1/17/09_

* * *

"We could have these for lunch." Shiho pulled out a stack of various frozen dinners from the freezer and placed them on the counter, where Nao, Yuichi, and Natsuki sat.

"That's rather convenient, isn't it?" Nao asked.

"…I guess it is." Mai was far too distressed by the gruesome fates of Mikoto and Takumi for anyone to even consider asking her to make lunch; at the moment she remained upstairs with Shizuru. Everyone was concerned (to varying degrees) about Mai's state, but Shizuru had insisted that everyone didn't need to be around her at all times, whispering to Yuichi and Natsuki while Mai was momentarily zoned out that she feared having everyone in the room attending to Mai might actually make her mental state worse. "A mix of survivor's guilt and self-pity," she had hypothesized. Shiho continued to the conclusion Shizuru was going for, suggesting that everyone being present may suggest subconsciously to Mai that she's being the center of attention. It got everyone else down to the kitchen, but Yuichi wasn't able to bring his thoughts along. He barely had enough brainpower reserved for eating his own lunch.

He made a start when he noticed that Nao's hand was waving in front of his face. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"Huh? What?"

"Guess there is now." Nao's hand retreated from Yuichi's line of sight. Yuichi's head followed it to the microwave, where Natsuki was standing and watching her tray cook or, at least that's what it appeared to be. The reality that everyone could read on her face was that she was trying to mentally make a connection between the two most recent deaths and the tango music that the stereo system was playing when they found them. Shiho was staring at her frozen tray while waiting in line, while Nao was already digging into lunch: her fourth cup of yogurt. "Not exactly what I'd call a balanced meal," he said.

"Meh, keeps my figure in check and it's easy to do."

Yuichi's attention left Nao and went to Shiho, specifically her own tray. Out of curiosity, he got up and went to the trash can where everyone had thrown the cardboard covers of their frozen dinners into. He fished through the disposed containers and eventually found Shiho's.

"Is something wrong, _onii-chan_?"

Yuichi looked through the directions. "Thought so."

"What is it?"

"You forgot to cut slits in the plastic over the mashed potatoes."

Shiho looked at the frozen mashed potatoes. "Does it make a difference?"

"They'll probably end up really runny if you don't."

"Oh. Thanks, _onii-chan_." Shiho placed her tray on the counter and retrieved a knife to cut the slits.

"No problem."

A set of footsteps in the hallway drew everyone's attention to the approaching Shizuru. "_Kaichou_," Yuichi addressed. "What are you doing down here?"

"Even grieving ones must eat at some point, Tate-san," Shizuru replied, not-very-discreetly holding a hand to her own stomach.

"Right…"

"Are there any more of those left?" Shizuru asked, looking at Natsuki and pointing to her just-nuked lunch.

"I think so…right?" Natsuki looked at Shiho for confirmation. Shiho went back to the fridge, opened it, and pulled out a couple more frozen dinners. "Will these be OK?" she asked.

"That should be sufficient." Shizuru took the trays and stood in line behind Shiho, occasionally looking at the two trays she held presumably to figure out which one would be hers and which would be Mai's.

Mai. Yuichi's thoughts, which never really left her, returned fully to Mai. To say that he felt bad was likely an understatement. It felt like he was running away from the problem of Mai's despair. Yet he had no idea how to confront it. From the stories he had sat in on and overheard about that Carnival thingy, it seemed like his efforts weren't really all that effective in helping Mai. That kind of track record didn't exactly inspire the most encouraging feeling in his own abilities. And here he was, up at the plate again and the umpire just called strike two.

"Tate-san." Yuichi turned to the whisperer of his name and met the red eyes of Shizuru. "I will need some time to prepare lunch. Perhaps I can ask you to watch Mai-san for me while I am down here?"

The pitcher winds up. "Um, sure, I can do that." Yuichi tossed his empty tray into the trash, placed the fork he used into the sink, and walked out of the kitchen. Natsuki, who observed the series of events over steamed vegetables doused in mayonnaise, gave Shizuru a half-accusing glance, to which Shizuru just smiled.

Yuichi reached the second floor and entered Mai's room, where Mai laid on the bed. An ice pack on her head suggested she had come down with either a fever or a headache, but that was not the most worrisome development. He had discovered Mai's mental state had apparently degenerated fairly badly, for Mai was no longer in her usual clothes. Rather, she had shed them in favor of something entirely different: a school uniform. It wasn't Fuuka's standard of an orange blazer, white shirt, and brown and absurdly short skirts, either. It was a sailor uniform one would typically think of when one thinks about Japanese schoolgirls. Mai's was a playful mix of light blue and white with a yellow handkerchief for the finishing touch. Yuichi really had no idea how to approach this. "Uh…hi, Mai."

Mai turned her attention to the speaker. "Oh, hi there, Yu-kun."

"Yu-kun"? That was a new one. "Yu-kun doesn't like that nickname?" a pouting Mai asked, reacting to Yuichi's surprise.

"Oh, uh, well, it's just, um, I wasn't really expecting you to call me that."

"Can I still call Yu-kun Yu-kun?"

He had to admit, it was sort of catchy, if also childish. "If you want to…I guess you can."

"Yay!" Yuichi saw Mai raise her hands above her head with enthusiasm as if she had just hit a home run, the ice pack slipping off of her head. It was fairly obvious that her mental age had lost about ten years sometime since the uncovering of the fates of Mikoto and her little brother. Yuichi, without any plan of action of how to deal with his girlfriend's new mental situation, simply watched as Mai got up off the bed and went to her luggage. "Yu-kun," Mai called. "Want to play with me?"

"Uh…play what?" Yuichi was a little hesitant to join because Mai's tone of voice somehow sounded a little too sultry for his comfort. No way in hell was he going to get himself involved in something that could get him accused of statutory rape, especially if it involved Mai.

"This, of course!" Mai presented Yuichi with what would have been a teacup if whatever was ailing her head hadn't picked that moment to strike up an episode, causing her to stumble forward and the teacup to fly across the room. Yuichi ducked and the cup struck the wall behind him, revealing itself to be plastic and thankfully unable to shower the room with porcelain fragments. As soon as the danger of flying shards passed, Yuichi got up and went to Mai's side. She had fallen face first into the bed and was in a kneeling position as a result. "Mai!" He slid his hands underneath her body and carefully turned her over. "Mai! Are you all right?"

"My head hurts, Yu-kun…"

"Perhaps now isn't a good time to play," Yuichi said. "Maybe naptime is a better idea?" he suggested.

Mai put her finger on her chin as if in thought. "Yeah, Mai thinks that's a good idea."

Shizuru reached the room a few minutes later carrying freshly-cooked dinners, and she entered to find Mai sitting in a chair and facing away from her out the window. Yuichi sat in a second chair a few feet away and turned to acknowledge her presence, and when Shizuru moved into the room and changed her viewing angle, she found that a blanket had been placed over Mai. A nearby stereo was on and playing, at the moment, a mix of both acoustic and electric guitars. Shizuru set the two trays down on a nearby table, as well as an unopened bottle of painkillers. "Mai-san has fallen asleep?" Shizuru asked.

Yuichi nodded. "Does she have a headache or something?" he asked, noting the bottle.

"I believe so." Shizuru found a third chair and took a seat next to Yuichi.

_All day  
Staring at the ceiling making  
Friends with shadows on my wall_

"I hope she was not too difficult to handle, Tate-san."

"No, no…it's fine…" Yuichi trailed off as his gaze returned to Mai.

_All night  
Hearing voices telling me  
That I should get some sleep  
Because tomorrow might be good for something_

"You care for her," Shizuru half-stated, half-asked.

Yuichi let out a short snort. "Worst kept secret this side of Area 51," he replied.

_Hold on  
Feelin' like I'm headin' for a  
Breakdown  
And I don't know why_

"Thanks," Yuichi added.

"What did I do?" Shizuru asked innocently.

"Oh come on. You know and I know. Well, now, anyway; I'm a bit mad at myself for not realizing what you were doing sooner."

_But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell  
I know, right know you can't tell  
But stay awhile and, baby, then you'll see  
A different side of me_

"Mai wanted some music to sleep to?" Shizuru asked, motioning to the stereo.

"Yeah."

"Is it yours?"

Yuichi shook his head. "I just saw the CD in there already and hit play. I guess it's Mai's own mix or something."

_I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired  
I know, right now you don't care  
But soon enough you're gonna think of me  
And how I used to be_

Shizuru noticed Yuichi bobbing his head slightly back and forth with the beat. "Do you know this song?"

"I'm familiar with it. It's on Mai's computer and comes on sometimes when I visit."

"Do you or Mai-san know what it is about?"

"I looked it up once. I don't remember, though."

_Me  
Talking to myself in public  
And dodging glances on the train_

For a while, the two just sat in silence, observing their mutual charge.

_And I know  
I know they've all be talking about me  
I can hear them whisper  
And it makes me feel there must be something wrong with me  
Out of all the hours thinking  
Somehow I've lost my mind_

"If I may be so bold to ask, what are you feeling?" Shizuru said finally.

"Really? I don't know for sure. I mean, there's definitely the sense of impotence that I had before."

"Impotence, Tate-san?" Shizuru asked, a little intrigued by his choice of words.

"I mean, um…well, you remember when Searrs attacked the campus?"

"Yes, I remember."

"During then, I wanted to do something to help Mai, help those who were fighting back. But I didn't have superpowers or any other really ass-kicking skills like they did."

"Are you not skilled in kendo?"

"Well, it was only helpful in fighting off Reito, or the Obsidian Lord, or whatever the hell that whole shish-kebob was. When it came to really contributing by fighting off Searrs or trying to stop the Carnival, well…I was useless. You know what I'm talking about? What that's like?"

Shizuru contemplated this for a moment, and then nodded. "I do."

_But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell  
I know, right know you can't tell  
But stay awhile and, baby, then you'll see  
A different side of me_

_I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired  
I know, right now you don't care  
But soon enough you're gonna think of me  
And how I used to be_

"Mmm…" The scene was disturbed by Mai mumbling in her sleep. "Hau…Natsuki…so cute in that pink dress…Mai wants to take you home…"

_I've been talking in my sleep  
Pretty soon they'll come to get me  
Yeah, they're taking me away_

Yuichi was visibly weirded out by that audio revelation into Mai's fantasy. Shizuru was as well, though she tried her best to hide it. She turned to Yuichi. "Have you eaten lunch yet?"

"No, not really. I've been…distracted, I guess."

"Why not go downstairs and have something to eat? You must remember yourself as well."

After a moment of contemplation, Yuichi got up and headed for the door.

_I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell  
I know, right know you can't tell  
But stay awhile and, baby, then you'll see  
A different side of me_

Before exiting the room, though, Yuichi turned back around. "If I find that you've done anything to her…"

"I have no intention of letting any more harm come to Mai-san, Tate-san. As I presume you do as well."

"…All right." With that, Yuichi left.

_I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired  
I know, right now you don't care  
But soon enough you're gonna think of me  
And how I used to be_

Outside, Natsuki and Shiho stood on the deck. Natsuki leaned on the deck railing, toying with an opened can of soda in her hand. Shiho sat in a nearby lounge chair, at an angle such that she could face towards Natsuki or the door just by shifting her line of sight. "So what now?" she asked.

Natsuki was silent for an uncomfortable minute. Finally she answered: "I don't know." She drank the remainder of the soda. "I just…don't know." She sighed as she crushed the empty can in her hand out of frustration. "Sorry, that's probably not the answer you wanted to hear."

"It wasn't," Shiho replied. "But I appreciate it. Your honesty, I mean."

"Thanks, but how can you be so sure I was being honest?" Natsuki turned to Shiho. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but, you know, given the circumstances that surround us, you really ought to be more guarded about your trust."

"Past that…" Shiho said, her voice trailing off.

"Past what?"

Shiho took an audible breath. "I'm past that point, Kuga-sempai. I don't want to live in that kind of world."

Now Natsuki was curious, in a horrified sort of way. Mai on suicide watch was bad enough; adding a second person would be a nightmare. "Why not?" she asked. "Wait, before that, what kind of world are you talking about?"

Shiho sighed. "A world where trust is a weakness. Where leaving yourself at the mercy of another is a one-way road to ruin." She looked out towards the trees and the sea beyond. "I can't live in that world."

"So you're hanging out with me, with whom you just had a shouting match?" Natsuki asked, questioning the validity of Shiho's conclusion.

"When your friends betray you, sometimes the only people you can trust are strangers," Shiho said without batting an eye.

Natsuki raised an eyebrow. "You like that movie?"

"I saw it once or twice. That line just stands out in my head."

"I can't imagine your endgame to be a desirable one," Natsuki commented. "I mean, using that movie, if I'm a stranger, you don't know what I'm capable of."

"You like that movie too?"

"Have it." Natsuki turned her body to face Shiho, leaning on the railing with her right arm. "In any case, I don't know if I would consider myself a stranger to you," she continued. "Or any of us, really." Natsuki looked off. "I'm not sure whether to be thankful or disappointed," she added quietly to herself.

"Then what would you use?"

Natsuki hesitated. "Hmm…acquaintances, I suppose?"

"Maybe for most of us here."

Natsuki returned her attention back to Shiho, realizing where Shiho's wanderings were stemming from. "Are you jealous of Mai?" she asked bluntly.

For what seemed like forever Shiho didn't say anything, just staring at a point somewhere off of Natsuki's head. Finally she spoke. "I'm…stabbed. Not literally," she quickly added before Natsuki got the wrong idea. "I mean…it just feels like…like everyone's going off and doing their thing and leaving me in the dust."

"What, because Tate picked Mai? From the fact that he told you about cutting the slits in the plastic at lunch, I'd think that that would mean he still cares."

"It's not the same. It's not…"

"…Not what?"

"Not…I don't know…not the I-want-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-days-with-you kind of love."

"That kind of love, huh?" Silence save for the wind and waves settled upon the pair, the clack of Natsuki's crushed can sprinkled in on occasion.

Inside, Nao entered the living room, having literally nothing to do but stay alive. She stopped and did a double-take as she passed by the chessboard. She looked at the pieces, counted them once, and then counted again to be sure. But there was no doubt: five pawns stood on the board. With a start she moved quickly around the mansion, trying to find out who the next victim was. A run-through of the ground floor yielded nothing, so she turned upstairs. She reached the top of the staircase when she heard Shizuru's voice: "Mai-san…please…" Her voice was pleading and, if Nao wasn't imagining things, there was some fear mixed into it. Nao crept slowly across the hall, trying to find the source.

"Get away from me!" The utter volume of Mai's voice startled Nao, who instinctively took a couple of steps back and nearly fell down the staircase. Her hand grabbed the railing in time before anything worse could have happened. She took a moment to recompose herself and try to figure out what was going on.

"Mai-san…" The two of them had evidently left Mai's room, and Nao soon tracked the source of the conversation to the master bedroom. "It does not have to be this way…" From the comparative levels of both Shizuru's and Mai's voices, she judged that Mai was standing next to the door. Nao heard soft footsteps behind her and turned to see everyone else coming up from behind. What was confusing to Nao was that "everyone else" consisted of three people: Natsuki, Shiho, and Yuichi. Counting herself and the two inside the bedroom, it meant no one had died yet. Had she miscounted despite her recounting? Was the killer now getting bolder by knocking off pawns before knocking off people? "What's going on?" Yuichi whispered, seeing Nao's confusion on her face. Nao made an attempt to speak but ended up just shrugging in ignorance. The group heard Shizuru speak again: "Mai, please…put it down…"

"No! No…" Nao turned to Yuichi again and saw a look of horror on his face. "Mai!" he called out, banging on the door. Natsuki followed right after him: "Mai! What's going on?"

"Come any closer and Mai'll kill you!" Mai's threat quickly shut everyone up. Everyone was wondering what had happened to cause Mai to go homicidally crazy.

"Mai, please…put the cleaver down." Shizuru's revelation made everyone but Yuichi take several steps away from the door, fearful of an evidently-snapped Mai recreating the scene from _The Shining_. Yuichi, though, was not fazed by the prospect of Mai suddenly chopping a hole in the door and going, "Heeere's Mai-Mai!" He continued to call out to her: "Mai! Open this door! We have to talk about this!"

"No, we can't, Yu-kun! Mai can't…" The others looked at Yuichi for an explanation of "Yu-kun", but everyone remained silent as Mai began to blabber. "That contest had to be a set-up, it had to…and the storm and the chasing…and now everyone's going to die…and Mai…Mai…"

"You don't know that, Mai! We can still win!"

"Who's 'we'?! For all we know, you're the killer!" Even Yuichi fell silent after that; it was indeed true that there wasn't anyone left, himself included, who had an airtight alibi for every last murder thus far.

Natsuki stepped up to the plate and tried to keep Mai talking. "Mai? Please, listen to Shizuru and put the knife down. Why can't we discuss this?"

"Because it makes no difference! It's pointless!" Mai punctuated it with a bang of stainless steel against the door. Natsuki was crestfallen and, though she wouldn't admit it, terrified. Whatever happened to the Mai that defied destiny itself and broke the Carnival cycle? If the Carnival and the Obsidian Lord couldn't break her like it had broken everyone else, what the hell could? "Akane, Yukino, Akira, Alyssa, Midori, Sister…Mikoto…Takumi…We never get anywhere; we're always reacting, always talking, always letting the killer stay a step ahead. We're never going to win…"

"Mai, we can't give up. You can't give up."

"For what, so that we can lose again?!" Natsuki sighed in resignation. For a crazy person, Mai's arguments were frustratingly logical. Her head hung in defeat and despair. "No. I'm doing something else." Everyone outside looked at the door as they heard a rattle of a bottle of medicine. "Damn headache. STAY," Mai warned.

Underneath the crack of the door, a pair of shadows, most likely Shizuru's feet, stopped moving. "…All right, Mai-san," Shizuru replied. For a brief moment, everyone held their breath. Then Shizuru let out a shriek from behind the door, followed by the chopping noise of a cleaver striking against a plaster wall.

Natsuki jumped for the door handle right away, which was inconveniently locked. "Mai! If you hurt Shizuru in any way-" She would never get to finish her threat, for what came after was even worse than she had believed possible. Shizuru let out a cry: "Mai, no!" What happened after that took everyone there off guard. It was not the terrified scream of Shizuru being hacked to death by an insane Mai. It was something even more unexpected. "I love you, Yuichi," Mai said relatively quietly, moments before a sound came that no one could have foreseen coming: the sound of a discharging handgun.

The thud of a body falling to the floor followed soon after. "Mai!" Shizuru screamed in horror from within the bedroom.

"Holy shit," was all Nao could say. She could have spoken for everyone there.

* * *

_Again, please read and review. Song is "Unwell" by Matchbox 20._


	19. Chapter 18

_In advance, I wish you all a happy Singles' Awareness Day! Sorry this one took longer than expected: writer's block._

_Kaede: Are you all right?!  
Joshua: Was it at least feasible and not just "wtf"?  
Hashkorns: There's two other Higurashi references that I made in earlier chapters, though neither are as obvious. One involves Mai, the other...not so much.  
Martial Horror: ...I didn't even know there was an "April Fool's Day" horror movie.  
Olivia: ...I decline comment.  
EM: We'll see what happens._

_Again, My-HiME is property of Sunrise._

_2/9/09_

* * *

It took a full three minutes for Shizuru to be coaxed through her tears to unlock the door and allow the other four to enter the room. When they did so, they almost wished they hadn't. Mai's body lay slumped against the hinges of the door, eyes closed. She had apparently pointed the gun upwards against her chin, for the exit wound was clearly visible on the top of her head and the hole which the bullet bored through the ceiling plaster could be seen as well. The cleaver which Mai had previously wielded lay on the ground on the other side of the bed, with a dent in the wall about five feet above it. Yuichi took all of two seconds to observe Mai's fate before leaving for the bathroom with a hand over his mouth. Shiho sat in one of the chairs in the room, shocked by the events of the past few minutes, leaving Nao and Natsuki to cover Mai with a bed sheet and conduct an informal CSI. Well, to be precise it was Nao doing most of the investigative work, as Natsuki was constantly looking over at the grieving Shizuru and really only able to give verbal directions. "Well, first question is how the hell she got hold of a gun," Nao stated quietly. Even the normally indifferent Nao could not be indifferent any longer; the frequent deaths all around the island had removed her usual flippant attitude. She looked around the scene for the weapon while Natsuki turned to Shizuru. "Shizuru? Can I ask where-"

"I might have…knocked it under the bed…" Shizuru said through sharp breaths. "Why…" As Shizuru placed her face in her hands again, Natsuki glanced at Nao, who was already lying on the ground and looking under the bed. "Found it," she declared. Unable to reach it with her arm alone, she grabbed the nearby cleaver and was able to knock it out from under the bed. Natsuki went over to the gun to study it, but one she approached it, a mix of confusion and shock came over her. "What the hell?"

"What?"

"This is a Walther P99."

"What, is that like a rare gun or something?"

"No, worse." She picked it up and held it in her hand. "This is mine." The familiar grip and the adjusted sight alignments confirmed the worst for Natsuki: her own weapon had taken her friend's life. "What the hell is it doing here, though?"

"Why would you have a gun?"

"You deal with the likes of First District and Searrs for so long, you learn how to watch your own ass."

"Whoa, hey!" Nao said suddenly. Natsuki looked up from her puzzlement and realized that in her wonderment she had ended up pointing the gun at Nao. One of her hands was pushing Natsuki's aim away from herself, the other wielded the cleaver. "I'm taking no chances here."

"No chances, huh?" With a swift move Natsuki took Nao into her grasp, twisting her so that she faced away from Natsuki and pulling her arm behind her. Natsuki cocked the gun and pressed against Nao's head.

"What are you doing?!" Shiho exclaimed.

"Proving a point," Natsuki replied. She pulled the trigger to a clicking noise. "Gun's empty." She released Nao. "No more dangerous than a rock now." She stuck the gun into the back of her pants, the only place she could store it on her person. "Come on, we should get Mai into the morgue. Shiho?"

"Yes?"

"Can you watch over Shizuru for me?"

"Yeah, sure," Shiho replied with a slight nod. With that Natsuki and Nao picked up Mai's body and started the decidedly-less-than-festive funeral procession to the morgue. "You trust Octo-head enough to leave her in her care?" Nao asked as soon as they were out of earshot of those inside the master bedroom.

"Not trust so much as I believe she isn't the culprit," Natsuki replied.

"Not the culprit? Dude, she has probably the biggest motive out of all of us to go on a murderous rampage, even more than your girlfriend."

Natsuki stopped walking, forcing Nao to follow suit. "She isn't-" Natsuki started to say out loud before cutting herself off. "…my girlfriend," she finished in a near-whisper, hoping to God Shizuru didn't hear that.

Nao was intrigued. "Not your girlfriend, huh?" asked half-tauntingly.

"W-well, she's definitely a girl and she is my friend…maybe more, but…" Natsuki looked away.

"You're still on the fence, aren't you?"

"…Yeah," Natsuki said finally. Nao made a move to speak, but Natsuki cut her off: "Shut up, I know what you're going to say."

"The fact still remains that you still can't pull the trigger." Nao backpedalled when she saw Natsuki's face turn downcast and towards Mai's head. "Sorry, that was…probably an inappropriate analogy."

Natsuki just looked away. "Still…point made."

"That reminds me." Nao struggled to turn herself around while still supporting Mai's body. "What the hell was that all about?"

"What the hell was what all about?"

"The whole put-me-into-an-arm-lock-and-shove-the-gun-to-my-head thing. You could have just pointed it at the window or the ceiling or something."

"The empty chamber wasn't the point I was trying to make."

"Then what was it?"

"Noticing that you weren't trying your utmost to get away." Natsuki betrayed no emotion, stating that fact as if she was delivering tomorrow's weather forecast. "We should continue moving."

Back in the master bedroom, Yuichi returned from the bathroom. He looked at the two remaining girls there. "The other two took Mai away?" Shizuru nodded. "I see…" With that, he sat down in another chair and leaned on his knees with his elbows. His eyes fell upon the cleaver that had been left on the table by Nao. "Where did this come from, anyway?" he asked to no one in particular. "_Kaichou?_ Do you have any idea?"

"I'm afraid not, Tate-san. I am just as puzzled as you."

Yuichi looked at the cleaver for a little while longer before turning away and looking at a spot on the carpeted floor. He couldn't do any more investigation, overwhelmed by grief. Shizuru stood up, and the other two in the room looked at her. "I wish to see how Natsuki and Yuuki-san are doing," she declared, answering their unasked question. "Excuse me." With that, she left the two alone before either one of them knew what was going on.

For a long minute or so, neither said anything. Yuichi kept looking at that spot on the floor. He heard the movement of Shiho seating herself in a chair next to him but remained focused on the floor. After another minute of silence, Shiho finally broke it. "_Onii-chan…_" She swallowed audibly before continuing: "I…I can't win, can I?"

"Huh?"

"I said I can't win, can I?"

"Win what?" Yuichi then blinked in realization. "Oh, that."

"'That'?! Is that what this has become?! Not even the word 'relationship'?" She grabbed Yuichi's shoulder.

"Get off!" Yuichi shook Shiho's grasp with such force that she tumbled out of her chair and on to the floor. Yuichi, in a fit of almost sudden rage, grabbed the nearest object he could get his hands on. "I ought to end this now and-" He was almost too late in adding another to the body count before he stopped upon hearing the sharp, terrified inhale of Shiho. She was lying on the floor, one hand up and with an entirely petrified look on her face save for the tears that once again were trying their utmost to leave her eyes. He then took note of his stance: the cleaver in his hand (though with the blade facing away from Shiho) and in a position ready to strike down with great force. For a few seconds the only sounds in the room were the tense, heavy breaths made by both of them. Yuichi then slowly let his arms go to his sides. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, letting the cleaver hang loosely from his fingertips. "I'm sorry, Shiho, I…didn't mean to do that. I'm just…" He let out a heavy sigh before turning away from Shiho and walking towards the balcony. "God, Mai…" He swiped the bottle of painkillers off of the table as he passed by it.

Shiho slowly sat up on the floor and watched as Yuichi made the slow journey to the balcony. She watched in silence as Yuichi stood for a minute on it, then in a fit of rage took hold of the cleaver's handle and hurled the object off of the balcony and towards the backyard before collapsing on to the railing with a bang of his fists. Shiho couldn't hear him, but it was clear that Yuichi was crying. She began to shed tears as well, which surprised the part of her that wasn't focused on the pain. Why was she crying at a time like this? Yes, Mai's death in itself wasn't particularly welcome and even Shiho admitted that she would have felt better if Mai were alive (she wasn't spiteful enough to actually wish death upon someone else, even her), but this should be a golden opportunity for her to win back her _onii-chan_! Why wasn't she pouncing all over the chance?

Her thoughts wandered back to the conversation she and Shizuru had between Mai's removal by Natsuki and Nao and Yuichi's return:

"_How did you handle it, Munakata-san?"_

"_Pardon?"_

"_This…waiting."_

"_To die? You've given up as well?"_

"_That was not what I meant, Munakata-san. I meant the wait for the decision…by the one you love."_

"…_Oh…I see."_

"_Why make me wait, Natsuki…Even choosing her would be better…"_

"…_W-Wait, what? Choose who?"_

"_Yuuki-san."_

"_What? Why would she-"_

"_I have seen how at ease Natsuki is around Yuuki-san. How she lets her usual facade fall away and lets her inner self come out. It is the kind of thing she used to do around me."_

"_And she doesn't do that now?"_

"_Not as frequently. Not since the end of…that."_

"_I don't think Nao would get that, though. Surely you know of what her dates really consist of."_

"_No, I can see it in her actions, Munakata-san. Their actions. They are subtle; both of them are not the type to acknowledge their relationship with spontaneous public displays of…affection, but I can sense that it is there."_

"_So why not stop it? I thought you wanted her."_

"_I do, Munakata-san, I do. But I would rather see Natsuki with Yuuki-san if it made her truly happy than leave us all hanging like this."_

"_Why? It doesn't make you happy."_

"_Would it be true happiness if the love flows in only one direction? If Natsuki's heart belongs to Yuuki-san, then to keep her for myself would be the most selfish and hateful act I could inflict on her. I shall not wish such evil upon whom I love."_

"…"

"_You look at me strangely, Munakata-san."_

"_Well, it's just…before…those months ago…"_

"_If you are referring to what happened that day near the hospital…"_

"_Yes."_

"_That is precisely what I must never allow myself to repeat."_

"_But didn't Nao attack her? If this were a court of law I can't think of any judge who'd find you guilty of murder."_

"_Such trials are handled by juries, Munakata-san, but that is beside the point. Yuuki-san acted only out of self-defense. She had been manipulated into fighting everyone. We all were. It was difficult for her to trust because of her life's previous encounters. I sense that she still cannot trust. I can place no blame on her for what she did."_

"_Neither should you, then."_

"_My circumstances were different. I let my feelings for Natsuki cloud my judgments, slowly but surely. Perhaps that Star had something to do with it, but Natsuki and Mai-san have proven that its influence could have been defeated. Yuuki-san's situation beyond the events of the previous year means to have expected to her have acted differently would have been ludicrous."_

"_And what about me?"_

"_I am in no position to pass judgement upon your actions against Mai-san during that time when I have done the same."_

"_Sounds like you're condemning yourself, though. And by extension…"_

"_You are talking about me judging myself. I am talking about me judging you. I do not find them the same. However, Yuuki-san was right: the past is past. What has been done is unchangeable. The choices we face, whether we survive this ordeal or not, are the only ones we can still affect. And I have made mine."_

At that point, Yuichi had returned and the conversation ended abruptly. Shiho's thoughts returned to her sadness of mysterious origin when a tear plunked her arm. She looked at Yuichi's bent form, the bottle of painkillers being toyed with by his hand, and the backyard beyond where his gaze was fixated and where the cleaver presumably laid. The earlier conversation played over again in her head.

Shiho finally put two and two together and came to a conclusion. The reasons for her tears were twofold. First, she was crying because she has seen Yuichi in pain and anguish over Mai's death. Along Shizuru's lines, if Yuichi was in tears, so would she because she loved him. This led to the second, more painful part of the conclusion: that Yuichi did not love her. He still did not lover her even after Mai had killed herself, at least not as she wanted to be loved. Actually, this had been blatantly obvious ever since the talk the previous night with Mai, Yuichi, and Nao. She just chose to pretend that it wasn't there, that deep down Yuichi actually loved her romantically and that everything else was a grand delusion. Part of her actually kept trying to keep this up, but the rest said "No." Enough was enough.

She slowly picked herself up off the ground and made her way to Yuichi's side, who was still on the railing. She hesitated before mustering the courage to speak: "_Onii-chan_?"

"Yeah?" he said finally.

"Did you…love her that much? Truly?"

Yuichi let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, Shiho. I do. I'm sorry." Silence save for the wind fell over the pair. The fact that Yuichi used present tense did not escape Shiho. "I have to ask you something, Shiho."

"Yes?"

"Why do you keep on pursuing this fairy tale?"

Shiho was silent. She knew it to be a true accusation but struggled to accept it. Finally she spoke. "Because it's all I have left, _onii-chan_." She lifted her head so that they would see eye-to-eye. Shiho steeled herself before continuing. "It's all I've had to go for."

"Oh, come on," Yuichi replied in disbelief. "You don't mean to tell me that living happily ever after's the only goal you have in life. Do you?"

"Of course!"

Yuichi saw something and raised an eyebrow. "No it isn't," he stated flatly. "You flinched," he added just as Shiho opened her mouth to protest.

"No I didn't."

"Yes, you did. Wasn't much, but you did." He turned so that his body faced Shiho's. "Come on, Shiho. Why do you really chase me like this?" Shiho was silent, and Yuichi let out a quiet sigh. "Maybe that wasn't a good question. All right, let me try to rephrase it." He thought for a moment. "You want to have a closer relationship with me." Shiho nodded. "What do you want out of it?"

Shiho came close to letting out another knee-jerk response when she shut her mouth. Even if he was her _onii-chan_, she wasn't used to him making a thought-provoking question like that. Shiho could not respond.

"May I venture some guesses?" Yuichi asked. Shiho granted permission with a small shrug. "Does it have something to do with that day I beat off those bullies, the day we first met?" Shiho tilted her head to the side; Yuichi interpreted that as "Kind of", which meant the answer was probably "Yes". Yuichi thought back through the years in which he had known Shiho, looking at how she's acted through that time. An answer came to him, and he took a shot. "Since that day…you've looked to me as your guardian, your protector." No movement of objection from Shiho. Yuichi continued: "I agree with you on that, Shiho. Love does involve protection. But it isn't just from physical threats and troubles that a person needs protection from."

"It's the emotional too, right?"

Yuichi nodded. "You know where I'm going with this."

Shiho nodded. "And you're going to say…" Shiho struggled to get the words out. "…that you can't give that."

"At least…not the emotions you want satisfied." Yuichi turned back to the railing and gripped the top with both hands. "Shiho, I can be your friend. I can be your defender. I can be your shoulder to cry on. I can even be your _onii-chan_." He paused momentarily, then turned his head to look at Shiho. "But I can't be your boyfriend. I can't be your lover. I can't be your husband." He let a moment pass for his Sherman-esque statement to sink in. "I'm sorry, Shiho. But I love Mai."

"But…" Shiho didn't finish the sentence lest her question upset Yuichi.

He figured out what she wanted to say anyway and held up his hand. "I know, Shiho. I know she's dead. But that doesn't change my feelings for her. The reason I snapped at you earlier…I was frustrated. And angry."

"At me?"

"A little bit. But I was mainly angry at myself."

"Why, _onii-chan_?"

"Because I failed Mai. I couldn't protect her when it mattered most."

"From what the _kaichou_ told me earlier, it seems like you did fine, though." A part of Shiho couldn't believe that she was trying to comfort Yuichi about Mai, but nonetheless she said it. And meant it, too.

"Still, the fact remains." The pair stood on the balcony for a perceptive eternity before Yuichi finally spoke again. "I could use some time alone now, as I'm sure you could as well. Will you be all right staying here?"

Shiho's lips moved around, as if she was still chewing on what had transpired the previous several minutes. "I'll be OK."

"All right. Shout if you need help." With that, Yuichi left Shiho on the balcony, who watched her dream walk out the door and pass on into fantasy.

Shiho stood on the balcony for a minute, letting the wind play with her hair. She then walked silently inside and went over to the stereo. In silence, she turned it on and pressed play, not caring whose CD was inside. She sat down on a nearby chair, placed her arms on the table next to it, and a tear slipped out from her eye. Meanwhile, the stereo started up:

"_Oh…Oh…  
So much for my happy ending…_"

The music wasn't too loud, so the guitar chords that suddenly erupted were drowned out by a sudden wail from Shiho. For about ten seconds, Shiho's sorrow and the stereo had a shouting match before both toned themselves down.

"_Let's talk this over  
It's not like we're dead  
Was it something I did?  
Was it something you said?_

_Don't leave me hanging  
In a city so dead  
Held up so high  
On such unbreakable thread…_"

Shiho knew, deep down, that this would have been the outcome when she walked out to the balcony. She knew that Yuichi loved Mai, even if her mental state hadn't been optimal. But no amount of pre-game pep talk would have stopped this deluge of tears from occurring. No attempt at making her expectations more realistic would have prevented her sadness from breaking out. It had just been held down too long, the seal broken when Yuichi made his unequivocal declaration.

"_You were all the things I thought I knew  
And I thought we could be_

_You were everything, everything that I wanted  
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it  
All of the memories so close to me just fade away  
All this time you were pretendin'  
So much for my happy ending."_

Shiho's tears continued to stream out after her voice had silenced. Of course, since she had been so focused on this stage of denial, she hadn't given much thought to the next: getting over him. It wasn't going to be an easier task, for sure.

"_You got your dumb friends  
I know what they say  
They tell you I'm difficult  
But so are they_

_But they don't know me  
Do they even know you?  
All the things you hide from me  
All the sh-"_

Shiho suddenly picked her head up and killed the stereo when she heard a clatter from the balcony. She spun around to face the balcony door just as a rapid series of sounds echoed through the room. Through the window, she saw a vase on the balcony itself had been knocked over. Adrenaline now racing through her veins, Shiho quickly moved to the balcony door, opened it, and jumped out to see if anyone was there to no avail. She looked to the left, right, and up on the roof right above the door. No one.

After scanning the whole scene to make sure, Shiho took a moment to recollect herself and evaluate the situation. Was someone trying to spy on her from the balcony? Once she had calmed down and had begun thinking straight, she looked at the fallen potted plant. The plant fell away from the side of the balcony; that, combined with what she found next, suggested someone had been spying on her. She approached the fallen plant and saw the object lying nearby:

Natsuki's pistol.

* * *

_Song is "My Happy Ending" by Avril Lavigne. Figured I'd give you guys a break from all the death since Mai's seemed to be particularly jarring._

_Please read and review._


	20. Chapter 19

_Sorry about the long layoff. It's been a pretty rough three months on me, between real life issues (words of wisdom, kids: NEVER WORK TWO MINIMUM-WAGE JOBS) and writer's block re: this story. The good news is that there's only two or three more chapters to go. Or maybe that might be bad news._

_MH: Thanks regarding the conversation.  
kikyo: Hmm. A most interesting analysis.  
Joshua: Perhaps, but the plot can't advance without death.  
Kaede: What's Nao up to? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.  
Olivia: Yeah, um, about that quick updating schedule...  
Momoko: And onward we march...to the conclusion...  
AC195: It's all right. I should be apologizing for not updating._

_Again, My-HiME belongs to Sunrise._

_5/24/09_

* * *

Yuichi sat on the living room couch, staring at the five remaining pawns on the chessboard. He took a sip from the glass of orange juice that he had poured just before. He had appropriated Yukino's laptop and was using it to play one of his CDs while ostensibly trying to further the investigation into the island's killer.

"If only I had looked more carefully around the room…"

_I took a walk around the world to ease my troubled mind  
I left my body lying somewhere in the sands of time_

The word "ostensibly" is used because in reality, he was just trying to get a grip on reality. Graduation wasn't the only place where one could feel a thousand emotions. The major difference between graduation and where he was now...happiness wasn't among the emotions present.

"If only I hadn't taken so long to eat…"

_But I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon  
I feel there's nothing I can do…yeah…_

Yuichi wasn't going to kid himself: Mai was gone. Rare is the person who can survive a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

"If only I had had the balls to barge in…"

_I watched the world float to the dark side of the moon  
After all I knew it had to be something to do with you_

"If only…" The phrase kept repeating itself in the head of the lone name on this guilt trip's manifest.

_I really don't mind what happens now and then  
As long as you'll be my friend in the end_

Yuichi was in the end a man of honor, despite the wavering that he had meekly put forth in the events of a few months back. It was honor that led him to quit the kendo team so that he would not put forth half-assed efforts in their matches. It was honor that directed him to intervene on Shiho's behalf against the bullies. It was honor that made him choose victory for all over trying to save his own ass. It was honor that sent him into a battle against an enemy that outmatched him, whose scope he could barely comprehend, with the true glory going to Mai.

It was honor that ultimately spurred him to speak the truth to Shiho about his feelings.

_If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?  
If I'm alive and well will you be there holding my hand?  
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman, might  
Kryptonite…_

By no means was Yuichi ungrateful for what Shiho had done for him. Before he met her, he had been a classic delinquent: skipping classes, being unkempt, picking the occasional fight, and generally not giving a crap about life. Part of the reason for his leaving of the kendo team was the inconsistency that showed between what he was and what the kendo team stood for, even though few knew of his two sides. About a month or two ago he and Mai had a discussion that somehow drifted into the underlying reasons behind their initial clashing, and the pair had come to a conclusion that part of it was his past; Mai had subconsciously discerned it even though he had left it behind before they ever met. The Yuichi that showed up now would have been completely unrecognizable in his usual hangouts a couple years ago. The current Yuichi was probably always there: it had just been buried by the truant façade he had put up in that time.

_You called me strong, you called me weak  
But still your secrets I will keep  
You took for granted all the times I never let you down  
You stumbled in and bumped your head  
If not for me then you'd be dead  
I picked you up and put you back on solid ground_

Then he came across Shiho and the bullies at the playground. It was the first time he could really care for someone: he was an only child, his mother had left them when he was a toddler, and the chances that his father would be wasted by alcohol on a given night was better than a coin flip. (How the Academy even heard of him, much less offered him a scholarship, remained a mystery for so long to Yuichi, though the whole Carnival shish-kebob suggested there was at least something powerful going on behind the scenes.) Actually, that's not the whole truth: he'd frequently bail out his dad if he got into some trouble; he'd just unleash frustrated torrents of angry words at his supposed caretaker passed-out on the couch afterwards if he was in a bad mood.

_If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?  
If I'm alive and well will you be there holding my hand?  
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman, might  
Kryptonite…_

Why Shiho liked to hang around Yuichi after that day was straightforward, but a full understanding of the reverse – why Yuichi at least tolerated Shiho clinging to him for so long – had to go beyond mere pity or guilt. Even Yuichi wasn't entirely certain, but he had a working answer: gratefulness. Hanging around Shiho was the only place where Yuichi had felt at ease in his pre-Fuuka days. The afternoons he had spent with her in parks and cafes reminded him that life didn't have to be all every-man-for-himself and dog-eat-dog, that the romantic (in the general sense) scenes that television loved to put on the screen weren't always that fantastical. If the story had ended there, Shiho may just have seen her dreams materialize into reality.

But then Mai came along. Not that Mai appearing on the scene was a bad thing for Yuichi. She was tireless despite her responsibilities, cheerful despite the tragedies, dependable despite the trials (and they were real nasty ones that no human should have had to go through). It shamed him a little that he had reacted so poorly to his circumstances when she arguably had it worse yet still took it on herself to fight back against life.

_If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?  
If I'm alive and well, will you be there, holding my hand?  
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman, might  
Kryptonite…YEAH…_

He held no regret for choosing Mai; he never would have made such a clear denial of Shiho's love otherwise, especially after her suicide. It was actually a little upsetting to Yuichi that Shiho had asked again about their relationship when he was in mourning. Yuichi hadn't brought up her selfishness because he knew she would have done that. It was something both he and Mai had hoped to address to Shiho and fix…together.

_If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?  
If I'm alive and well, will you be there, holding my hand?  
I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman, might  
Kryptonite…_

Could things change in the future? Yuichi had seen more unlikely things come to pass in the past few days alone, not to mention the fact that that his love, his oldest friend, and many others once had superpowers and mechas (or something like that) and was pulled into some twisted version of _Highlander_. If they got off of the island alive and it came up again, he'll deal with it then. Speaking of getting out of there…

"Oh, there you were." Yuichi turned to the entryway to see Nao standing there. "I was wondering who was playing that."

Yuichi stopped the track. "Where's the other two?"

"I left Kuga in the morgue and passed Fujino on the way down here. What about the brat?"

"Shiho's…letting it out."

"So I heard."

A period of tense silence passed over the two before Yuichi spoke up again. "You mind if I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"You and Kuga-san." Yuichi stopped talking when he saw Nao slightly taken aback by the inquiry.

She quickly regained her composure. "Thought you were going to ask me who I think is behind all this," she said, looking at the pad of notebook paper from earlier that she, Natsuki, and Shiho used to figure out the poem.

"I do have that question, but I'm not going to get certainty in any answer I get since I don't know who's in on it."

"And what makes you think that I'd give an honest answer to _that_ question?" Nao asked as she folded her arms.

"Because time's running out. Can't be that healthy keeping something like that to yourself."

"Noble to the end. Should have expected this."

"So, are you going to answer or what?"

"What the hell, Tate? What's with the inquisition all of a sudden?"

Yuichi looked away and released a depressed sigh. "Sorry. I was being nosy. Didn't mean to be overbearing."

Nao's indignant state disappeared. "I know that look." Yuichi made no response so Nao continued: "Anger. And frustration. Over this whole thing with Octo-head, I'm guessing."

"How perceptive."

"You don't exactly have a good poker face, Tate." Nao straightened up and began to walk away.

"Where're you going?" Yuichi asked.

"You're not the only one needing alone time. Watch yourself." With that, Nao left, leaving the mansion through the front door and closing it behind her. She walked through the porch and on to the front lawn, heading towards the docks.

Nao wondered whether maybe the past few days have been too surreal for her as she sauntered down the hill. Ordinarily she would have parried something like Tate's interrogation attempt far more sleekly than mere sarcasm, especially since he had a Y chromosome. She _certainly _wouldn't have told him to watch himself (a certain four letter verb would have been more conventional). Maybe all the homicide was getting to her in spite of her usual dismissive behavior. Or perhaps it was because of all the killing that she was acting different inside; who knew? Nao's internal monologue stopped while her legs continued to move. Wait, those two hypotheses aren't even in competition; her soliloquy wasn't making sense. Nao shook her head to get a hold on herself. Chalk up another moment of unclear thinking since she's been here.

Like the kiss.

Nao let out a groan in disgust. Of all the times to be thinking of that when she should have been thinking about how to get out of there alive and in one piece. She thought that once she got…that out of the way, she'd be able to focus on survival, but no, the opposite happened: she kept thinking about Natsuki less in terms of how to escape and more in terms of how to pursue as the hours passed since the lights went out on Day 1. It was frustrating for Nao. Here she was thinking about her in an increasingly sickening lovey-dovey way when she could very well be the one killing them all!

Admittedly, in Nao's mind that wasn't as likely as her pseudo-girlfriend being the one. With Fujino, there was a past psychopathic history and a measure of sneakiness that rivaled her own, after all. Moreover, who else would be so obsessive as to set up everyone coming to this island, with conveniently-failing systems to isolate them and then prowl around to knock them off one by one? Certainly not Tate; the guy's fine when it doesn't come to love matters, but he didn't seem capable of such orchestration. Octo-head was far more likely to be the puppet than the master. Maybe Idiot-sensei, but she's out of play now. Maybe. So, her suspicions fell upon Fujino. But then again, in these kinds of stories, it's often the least likely person one would suspect that turns out to be the culprit. Nao's own nighttime hunts were proof of that, back when Julia was around. So did that mean Octo-head? Or Kuga? Or even a split-personality of herself?

With her thoughts running (in circles) at bullet train speeds, Nao wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings, as evidenced when she tripped over an up-until-then unseen wire. She tumbled to the ground, jumped right back and quickly moved into a combative stance, her head snapping around like a bumblebee in search of nectar until she realized no attack was forthcoming. She nearly tripped over the wire again as she retraced her steps, but she managed to hold her balance before calming down and realizing what was going on. Her brain had faintly registered the sounds of what seemed to be clanging metal, so she got down on one knee to investigate the wire. Nao soon caught sight of the fleeting sheen of the sun bouncing off a string, and her eyes traced each end towards two trees in roughly opposite directions. Tentatively, she extended a finger and plucked the string, resulting in a subdued cacophony of clanging metal and possibly rock (the kind one threw at people). She plucked it again and retraced the lines, which is when she saw what exactly was going on. About eight or ten feet away, a can was suspended a few inches off the ground, the sounds rattling roughly in time with the oscillation of the can up and down caused by her plucking finger. Nao looked the other way and saw a cowbell suspended in a similar manner, the reflected sunlight giving away the knot that held the bell to the string.

Nao plucked the string a few more times, not as much out of boredom as hesitancy towards deciding her next move in light of this discovery, before she heard someone else's voice from behind her. "Ara, Yuuki-san."

Nao looked up from her leaning position to see Shizuru approaching. "'Sup, Fujino," she said simply.

"What is this?" Shizuru asked, the hint of suspicion in her voice glaringly obvious.

Nao refused the bait and plucked it again. "Found it here. Don't know –" Nao cut herself off when she saw the short wooden construct of the wine cellar behind Shizuru.

"Don't know what, Yuuki-san?"

"Never mind."

Shizuru blinked once before moving on to her original line of questioning. "Have you seen Natsuki, Yuuki-san?" Shizuru asked.

"Not since I last saw you. You haven't?"

Shizuru shook her head. "I last saw her in the morgue, which if I remember correctly was just before you saw her last."

Nao performed some temporal calculation in her head. "Sounds right."

The two didn't move for a few moments, the late afternoon sun and gentle yet persistent breeze filling in what the tension was prohibiting. Each of them knew what the other was thinking (they stopped their circular thinking chase there before it got worse).

Finally, Nao made a move to break the silence. "Maybe we should go look for someone else. It's been kind of quiet. Not much else to do, anyway."

"Yes, I suppose," Shizuru accepted, also eager to break the unease. The two of them began walking back towards the mansion, though both were conscious to make sure the other couldn't get a clean shot of their backs.

"So…uh…" Nao went, wanting to talk about something not related to the killings. "What's up between you and Kuga?" Nao didn't flinch from her direct question, but part of her was already saying to herself, "Brilliant move, Einstein."

"We are…all right, I suppose." Meaning, of course, they were only superficially.

"Oh, that's…good to know." The silence persisted for another minute or so before another topic could be discovered. "Who, uh, who do you think's behind all this?"

There was a brief moment of hesitation on Shizuru's part before she replied. "Perhaps…Munakata-san?"

"Ah…well, you know, maybe. It's not like there wouldn't be a motive."

"And as far as opportunities, I think we've all had our share of them."

"True, true." Both of them knew that she wasn't Shizuru's prime suspect, but both of them went along with it chiefly because confronting the issue straight on, while Nao's usual MO, would have required energy directed towards arguing, grandstanding, and shouting, little of which would have answered anything that would have actually helped. Nao wasn't in the mood, and Shizuru had found one heated argument with Natsuki to be more than enough.

"Maybe Kuga? She certainly has the skills."

"But she is leading…Well…"

"Wait, what?"

"That isn't a valid argument."

"Saying that she's trying to find the culprit?"

"Yes. Taking the helm of the investigation would allow her, if she were the one, to control where it led and such protect herself."

Nao was speechless for a moment. "What about Tate? Maybe he's behind this?"

"He does not seem like the time to be capable of orchestrating something of this magnitude."

"Well, have you ever seen _The Usual Suspects_?" As the two began to hold something resembling a normal conversation, in the back of Nao's mind she couldn't believe that she was actually having a more-or-less normal one-on-one social interaction with someone. The ex-murderer of her mother, at that. On the first night, she had indicated that she wanted to start their relationship over (truancy, et al., put aside) with that short talk on the balcony, but as they walked onto the deck, Nao looked into Shizuru's eyes and saw…regret? Sorrow? Pain? Whatever it was, even Shizuru's great poker face didn't hide it, and something within Nao, despite her years of distrust of everything and everyone, said it was genuine. Facts were facts, and they were still at the top of each other's suspicions, but maybe, just maybe…

The two of them reached the foyer when Nao stopped abruptly. "What is the matter, Yuuki-san?" Shizuru asked.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Nao asked, pointing towards the door.

"What?" Shizuru took a couple of steps closer, and with the change in vantage point was able to see the string connected to the top of the door.

"I was right here; how did I not see it…" Nao said as she walked towards the living room.

"When?" Shizuru asked.

"No more than, like, twenty minutes ago, talking to–" Nao stopped midsentence. "Fuck."

Shizuru peered into the room to see what Nao was talking about. The string connected to the front door ran into the room along the ceiling, and she followed it to a vase to her left. Upon closer inspection, a barrel of what was probably a gun could be discerned among the flowers. Her eyes traced where the barrel was pointing and landed on the sideways body of Yuichi, a dart prominently sticking out of his neck, his eyes frozen open in shock.

Shizuru struggled to say something. "…Maybe Munakata-san finally boiled over?"

Meanwhile, in the recreation room in the basement, Natsuki was briskly walking away from the bar, the panel disguising the back room to the concrete tunnels that veined the island's underground left ajar behind her. She paused briefly to holster her pistol in the back of her pants before leaving the room, remaining at high alert as her sweeping eyes attested to. The light in the room slipped through the crack left by the bar panel, illuminating a body on its back laying halfway into the secret room. A single magenta pigtail made a poor effort to hide the permanently frozen fear on the face.

"_Running out of time,"_ Natsuki thought to herself as she sped out. "_Need to find them fast._"

* * *

_Aaand Momoko was correct. __I would really appreciate reviews for this chapter, especially since I don't consider this one of my stronger ones. Hopefully I'll get back in shape for the finale._

_Song Yuichi was listening to is "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down._


	21. Chapter 20

_Again, apologies for the long update time. I'm supposed to be studying for exams and hoping to get into grad school, so that's going to take time away. (Well, that and some more personal issues vis a vis confidence, but that's a different matter.) However, chapters 21 and 22 (and maybe 23, depending on how I organize this) should come in quicker since I've already envisioned from the start what the ending's going to be._

_Martial Horror: Don't overthink this. :)  
rainee-chan: If it is a game, Natsuki running around with a gun sort of ups the stakes, doesn't it?  
EM Praetorian: God, I hope your faith is well-placed.  
Litome and emtz95: Thanks.  
Kaede Shinomori: Well, I guess their relationship is one that could go either way, you know what I mean?  
Momoko: This "fourth option" is becoming quite the popular one, isn't it?  
AC195: Let's see if I can pull this right, then.  
Olivia: Yes, you are quite consistent in your theory. I have to give you that. Though, I don't know what that says about judging hypotheses based on evidence._

_Once again, My-HiME is property of Sunrise._

_7/2/09_

* * *

Nao suddenly raced across the room to the fireplace. "Empty your pockets," Nao demanded, swiping the nearby poker and pointing it at Shizuru's face before she could react.

"Nao-chan, I assure you-"

"_Now._" Nao moved closer to Shizuru, causing her to raise her hands in the air. There was no other choice for her but to acquiesce to Nao's demand. Slowly, she went through her pockets one by one, turning them inside out and placing the contents onto the table next to the chessboard, where only three pawns stood. The contents of Shizuru's pockets amounted to just a spare button and a handkerchief. "I have nothing to hide, Nao-chan," she concluded. Nao looked unmoved, so Shizuru took a gamble. "If it would ease your mind, I would be willing to prove that I am not concealing anything underneath what I am wearing."

"…Fine. No sudden movements." A fleeting thought of flirtation did pass through Shizuru's mind as she began to unbutton her blouse, but one look at Nao's eyes of dead seriousness told her that that would be a rather unwise decision, especially if Natsuki had decided to walk on by at that moment. With only the slight rustling of clothes covering the silence of the mansion, Shizuru soon stood with her red blouse worn loosely on her like a jacket and her skirt in her hand. Her hips shifted from one side to the other, an almost instinctive reaction for Shizuru that drew none at all from Nao. "Nothing hidden. Is Nao-chan satisfied?"

Nao circled around Shizuru, getting a look at all angles. "Yeah, I'm happy. Put your clothes back on." Shizuru proceeded to do so as Nao walked back to the fireplace and returned the poker back to its place. "Pretty ordinary stuff you got on," she quipped.

"Why do you say that?"

"Someone like you, I figured you'd go for black lace or silk. Something high-end, you know?"

"I see." Shizuru finished buttoning up her blouse. "And what, may I ask, has brought about this sudden interest in my choice of lingerie? I had been assuming that Nao-chan wanted to see that I am not concealing anything."

"What, it's wrong to try to be social?"

"Well, no, but it does not seem like a topic that Nao-chan would ordinarily discuss with another person."

"Hey, the past couple days haven't exactly been a walk in the park for me," she retorted. "A little credit for trying would be appreciated, thank you."

"Oh, no, no, no," Shizuru said quickly. "Please know that it is a good thing that you have been more approachable with everyone, including me. I just wished it could have come under more…no, _less_ stressful circumstances."

"Don't we all." Nao punctuated the end of the sentence with a sigh.

A moment passed before Shizuru spoke up. "Nao-chan…it is a relief for me to have earned your trust. However…trust is not a one-way street."

"What, you want me to strip too?" Nao looked at her questioningly, folding her arms. "I do have _some_ standards."

"Then how am I supposed to trust you?" Shizuru's question was one more of inquisition than accusation.

"Um, you can count on my word?" Nao offered, though about two seconds her suspicion that it wouldn't work came to pass. "Alright, fine, would a pat down be sufficient?" Nao glanced down at her outfit, consisting of a pair of jean shorts and a random tank top she grabbed out of her suitcase that morning. "Not like I can hide much in here."

So Shizuru went ahead and patted Nao's body up and down quickly; no items were found. "There, you happy?"

"It will suffice."

"OK, then, so…now what?" Nao asked after a moment.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea to look for Natsuki or Munakata-san."

"Well, why not? Not like there's a whole lot of other options." She took a quick four steps and walked into the main hallway. "Up or down?"

The pair spent the next ten minutes (counting by Shizuru's watch) conducting yet another search of the mansion, looking for people dead or alive (hoping for the latter). Up the main stairs, through the bedrooms, down the side stairs, and on through the ground level of the house they went, to no avail. The potential that they were perhaps the last two people alive on the island (the ultimate failure of the erstwhile bonds that had brought all seventeen of them together) certainly placed a very heavy damper on anything resembling socialization, but to Shizuru's surprise Nao made attempts while they were on the search. It was clear to her that this was outside Nao's comfort zone, evidenced by the long stretches of pauses that fell between lines, and certainly Nao's ability to trust still hadn't even earned the adjective "fledgling" (she didn't fail to notice how Nao always positioned herself so that she could always see her), but Shizuru was nothing if not observant. Even if this prodding in the dark was to be for naught by tomorrow, Shizuru felt compelled to at least humor her.

"Huh. I never knew that, Nao-chan. I suppose I should be aware the next time I get such a chat invitation."

Besides, it was actually rather interesting to peek into how the other side lived.

"Yeah, well, the more you know and all that."

Of course, that only partly alleviated the unease that would fall on them when the conversing did stop. And there was something that was bothering Shizuru, something that she wanted to ask Nao about. She kept telling herself that now wasn't a good time (which, admittedly, was a fairly compulsive argument), but with the endgame fast approaching, Shizuru saw that there wasn't much time left, and it would be a "speak now or forever hold your peace" situation before long.

"Say, Nao-chan?" she said finally as the two reached the bottom of the staircase and began to walk through the hallway to the basement stairs.

"What's with the 'chan' suffix?"

Shizuru hesitated. "I, um…"

"Never mind. You were saying?"

"Oh, yes. I have been meaning to ask, Nao-chan…" She turned around to face Nao, though she continued to walk towards the basement stairs. "How do you feel…about Natsuki?"

The abruptness of the question took Nao by surprise, and she needed a moment to come up with a response. "Why do you want to know?"

"I think you are smart enough to know the answer to that question, Nao-chan."

"What the hell are you…" Nao aborted her attempt to contest what Shizuru was insinuating, and looked away from what she imagined was a smirk on her face. The truth of the matter had won out over her usual kneejerk deny-everything-twice-over reaction. It was too much. She stopped walking, which made Shizuru stop after taking one step down the stairs. For a few moments Nao was silent, trying to find the right words. "God, how do I put this…uh…I…"

"Is it like mine, Nao-chan?"

"Not really, no…" Well, maybe more than she cared to admit. Even if she wasn't as psycho as she was, Nao did do a rather rash action on the beach with Natsuki.

"Mai and Tate-san's?"

"I'm not a wuss." Liar.

"Higurashi-san's?"

"Gag."

"I presume not like Mikoto-chan's love of…everyone?"

"Enough, Shizuru. You don't have to rub it in." Both of them were a bit surprised at Nao's choice of addressing her. Nao was about to tell her off for making a game out of it, but when she looked up at her face she saw Shizuru never thought of it that way. Nao had thought Shizuru was confident in her belief that Natsuki would choose her, but the look of concern on her face was not fake. Maybe she was, but perhaps that was not her highest concern. A thought that perhaps Shizuru actually cared for her feelings sped through her mind, a thought she chased away quickly. "It's different, OK? It's…you wouldn't understand, all right?"

"Do you honestly think so, Nao-chan?" Shizuru replied. "Are you feelings so complex and unique that no one else has ever experienced them?" There was no hint of conceit in her voice, only of inquiry.

"I don't know, OK?!" Nao said, stomping towards Shizuru who backed down a couple of stairs in response. "I…" Nao looked away again, briefly this time. "You know how hard this is for me, right?"

Shizuru nodded. "Take your time."

Nao took a deep breath. "I guess…I do care. I mean, I don't know, it's not like I'd bring her flowers or anything like that on Valentine's Day."

"But there is something…different that wells from inside when you think about her," Shizuru offered.

"Wish there was a less sappy way to put it." Nao looked up again into Shizuru's face. "Well, in any case, we'll find out soon enough what she'll do." Nao took a few steps down the stairs, passing Shizuru en route.

"You are prepared for the consequences if she does not choose you?"

Nao stopped and turned around to look back at Shizuru. "What about you?"

"It would not be the first time. I know how to handle it."

"Oh, yay, that wasn't an ominous response," Nao muttered sarcastically, loud enough for Shizuru to hear. Nao turned and walked down the rest of the stairs while Shizuru remained near the top. "I guess that means a no," she thought as she slowly began to descend the stairs after Nao. Continually dodging the question was a sign of her not wanting to really find the answer to that question. Not a promising thing in Shizuru's eyes.

"What the hell?!" Shizuru looked up to see Nao's body disappear from view around the corner at the bottom of the staircase. "Nao-chan?" she called. "What is going on?" She quickly descended the rest of the stairs and stopped at the bottom to look around to see what was going on. Shizuru turned to her right to see Nao's figure rapidly approach her. A bottle of wine was grasped in Nao's hand by its neck, held in a position fairly high above her head. Shizuru was frightened by the mix of fear and anger that she saw on Nao's face. Then all of a sudden she froze, the bottle held a little higher than the top of her head, the dark emotions on Nao melting away into...surprise? Shizuru took a quick glance and saw a streak of blood on the carpet running from about the middle of the room to the bar, the feet of Shiho poking out from behind it. That would explain the initial anger, but why did she stop all of a sudden? (Not that she wasn't grateful that she wasn't about to become the next victim.)

"Don't move," Natsuki's voice ordered from behind. The sound of a gun cocking accompanied her order. She turned her head to see Natsuki with her pistol drawn, not ten feet from her. "Natsuki!" she exclaimed.

"Shut up, Shizuru, and put your hands in the air." Shizuru's joy was quickly killed when she saw just where exactly her pistol was point at, and she slowly complied. Nao let a smirk crawl on her face. Natsuki put an end to that tomfoolery quickly: "Put down the bottle," she ordered with the same seriousness as she had given Shizuru's instructions. Nao complied, slowly placing the bottle upright on the counter. Natsuki began approaching the two, who instinctively began backing away from her. Nao kept her distance from both Natsuki and Shizuru until she reached the back wall. The other two continued their shuffle until Shizuru also reached the wall and could back away no more. Natsuki remained about six to eight feet away from them.

"Where have you been?" Shizuru asked, trying to loosen the tense atmosphere.

"Trying to figure out which one of you two's doing all this shit."

"Or actually doing this shit," Nao replied, glancing at Shiho's body. Shizuru took a quick glance down at the body as well and saw what Nao was talking about: a bullet wound through her back, one that she couldn't see at her initial vantage point.

"You know, if it was me, I would have just offed both of you when I saw you two and not bother with this whole charade," Natsuki retorted.

"Yeah, but that would have been way too anticlimactic," Nao replied. "To have everything end so quickly after all this work? Uh-uh, that ain't going to cut it."

Natsuki smirked. "You make a good point."

"So have you determined which one of us is the one, Natsuki?" Shizuru asked.

"I have my theory," Natsuki replied, looking straight into Shizuru's eyes. "Nao, get out of the way," she added, flicking the barrel of the gun to the side. Natsuki's eyes, as well as the gun, remained pointed at Shizuru while Nao stepped away towards the pool table.

* * *

_Yeah, it was a pretty short chapter. The last one(s) should put everything to rest (so to speak)._

_Reviews are most appreciated. It's what keeps me going._


	22. Chapter 21

_"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things...not because they are easy, but because they are hard." - John F. Kennedy, 1962_

_I just needed a quote to push me on. I guess this is a pretty appropriate one._

_With that, may I present the penultimate chapter. Hopefully all your questions will be answered...except the most important one. :)_

_Kaede & Martial Horror: You hate cliffhangers? You're not gonna like this.  
angelronin: ticky-ticky-tick.  
AC195: You'll have to wait one more chapter for everything, but maybe this will sate it?  
EM: I appreciate your appraisal of the Nao/Shizuru interaction. Makes me feel good about it.  
Kara: That shall be explained in due course.  
Momoko: You'll just have to read on, won't ya?  
Olivia: You may be somewhat pleasantly surprised. May.  
rainee-chan: I hope this wasn't too long for you.  
ZZ-edge: Well, here ya go._

_Again, My-HiME is property of Sunrise._

_7/20/09_

* * *

For a moment everything was still, the implications of Natsuki's actions settling in on the three. "You know the cove where the water pumps are to the mansion, Nao?" Natsuki asked eventually, motioning her head towards the door leading to the underground tunnels.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"There's a jet ski in the water. Get on it and get out of here."

"What?!" Nao was incredulous. She could have gotten off the island all along?! "I didn't see anything there before!"

"It's around the corner, out of your line of sight if you were just standing on that landing," Natsuki replied.

"You hid it, didn't you?!" Nao shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Shizuru. "You purposefully looked down that way and lied about it when we were there!" She grabbed a cue stick in her anger from the pool table and began to wind up to strike Shizuru.

"Nao, stop!" Natsuki quickly shifted over to forcefully slam her right hand down on Nao's arm which grasped the stick, while her left hand kept her gun held towards Shizuru. "It's over. Just go. Get out of here while you can."

"But –"

"I will deal with Shizuru, all right? There's only room for one of us on that jet ski."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why not end this now?"

"There's always a chance that you or I are wrong." Natsuki kept her attention on Shizuru while speaking to Nao. "If you're wrong, you'll lose your best chance at survival. If I'm wrong, why the hell aren't you taking the chance to hide?" Nao didn't say anything. "Just go, Nao," Natsuki said again. "Before I change my mind."

"All right, all right." Nao ducked underneath Natsuki's line of fire and went behind the bar.

"You know the code to that?" Natsuki asked.

Nao glanced at the panel. "Yeah, I know. Figured it out from before."

"Good, then get out of here."

Nao took a couple steps into the hidden storage room behind the wall of the recreation room before turning around. "What about you?"

"I told you already, I'll take care of this."

Nao stopped. "You know, that doesn't exactly strike me as the best response to this situation if it turns out you're the liar and the murderer. The two of you alone is the best time for whichever one of you is it to knock off the other and then come after me, knowing exactly where I'd be."

"What the hell, Nao? I'm buying you the chance to get out of here alive and you're throwing it in my face?"

"Says the one with the gun!"

"Nao-chan, please go," Shizuru said finally, drawing the attention of the other two. "It is obvious that Natsuki and I have some issues to discuss."

"_That's putting it mildly,_" both Nao and Natsuki thought independently.

"It would be better if we discussed them alone," she finished.

Nao wasn't sure what to feel as she punched "HiME" into the pad and opened the door. It felt almost too easy. Still, the chance to escape back to the mainland – even if it was on a small dingy thing like a jet ski, it would be worth a shot. Maybe she could get picked up by the Coast Guard or something. At the very least, dying at sea would be better than getting murdered by one of…the people she knew. She took one last look at the scene behind her. The sight of Natsuki and Shizuru at such a tense situation was enough to push her across the threshold into the tunnel with deliberate speed.

Nao moved briskly through the halls, distracting herself from planning her next action beyond finding the jet ski (if it indeed existed) by what she had just thought. Since when did she think of Natsuki and _especially_ Shizuru as something like a friend? It was excruciating for Nao to consider them as something other than annoying at best. The latter question gnawed at her brain, the former at her heart.

She could scarcely believe she made that last statement. What the hell had they done to her? Had she really grown that soft in probably the least conducive situation for touchy-feely emotions to develop?

Why wasn't she more angered by this revelation?

Nao shook her head and redirected it down the hall and forward to her escape. She could look off into the sunset with an angst-filled contemplative look on her face once she reached the mainland. Natsuki, for whatever reason, gave her an exit. She would be a fool to waste it.

* * *

"How kind of you to let Nao go like that," Natsuki said after Nao left the two of them, her words dripping sarcasm all along the way to Shizuru's ears.

"Natsuki…" Shizuru did not dare move from her position. Her face expressed a brave stoicism, one that exuded the calmness that was so characteristic of the Kyoto woman. It also hid the sadness that she held for this predicament.

"Stop it, Shizuru. We're not proceeding any further with this until you start answering questions." Natsuki realigned her gun to point towards Shizuru's head.

Shizuru glanced at the pistol before returning her eyes to Natsuki's face. It hurt her to hear Natsuki say such a cruel thing, but she put forth no protest. It's hard to do so when you're not the one with the gun. "Very well then, Natsuki."

"For starters, since when the hell did you start calling her 'Nao-chan'?"

"No more than a few minutes ago. Nao-chan and I have made…I suppose you could say advances in repairing our relationship." A brief pause. "Does that bother you, Natsuki?"

"It wouldn't have three days ago."

"And now?"

Natsuki remained quiet before eventually deciding to move on. She wasn't going to give her an opening that easily. "Who else is in on this?"

"That is a useless question to ask, is it not, Natsuki? You know already that there is more than one person involved. Further, you sent Nao-chan away from you knowing that there are confederates in this." Shizuru let out a small smile as she finished talking. She knew the jig was up.

"You know me too well, Shizuru."

"I would be hurt if you didn't think so, Natsuki."

"Before I heard you two talking on the stairs, I would've had reservations about telling her to go." Natsuki twitched her head slightly towards the staircase leading to the main floor of the mansion. "But once I heard you two, it at least made this an easier decision to make. It made me certain that I could at least save one person from death." She turned her head slightly towards the doorway next to the bar. "One person who _wasn't screwing around with my head!_" she shouted.

"Oh, come on, Natsuki," a third voice whined from behind the corner. With a sigh, Mai stepped out and appeared in the doorway where Natsuki's angry words were directed towards. She was still dressed in the white and blue schoolgirl uniform from before. "You don't have to put it that way."

"You know how I feel about having my feelings toyed with," she replied bitterly.

Shizuru had looked between Natsuki and Mai while the two talked. "I suppose, then, you have figured out the poem," she said.

"Took me a while," Natsuki replied, slowly shuffling backwards into a position where she could keep an eye on Mai in case she was hiding a weapon. She had maneuvered herself into the bar, blocking the shortest path to the underground tunnels and Nao. "Mary for Miyu, Akane, Kanzaki-san, and Yukino; the ninja and Alyssa-chan for the black sheep; Midori and the Sister for sacrificed – those were simple enough. Bigmouth for both black sheep and sacrificed, though – that was clever." Natsuki stopped moving.

"Yeah, we couldn't really decide which one she was more, so we sort of stuck her in the middle," Mai explained.

"The last six of us make sense," Natsuki continued. "You, me, and Nao as one set of three, and you, Octohead, and your boyfriend the other." She looked at Shizuru during the first half of her sentence, and glanced at Mai for the second. "You, Octohead, and your boyfriend was the trinity that fell, of course." She paused momentarily, readjusting her position again. "Actually, I should thank you two for that."

"How so?" Mai asked, her head tilting in curiosity.

"When Mikoto and Takumi got knocked off, I was worried the next three to go might have been our trinity," she replied.

"You would rather have me dead than bear the burden that is indecision? You're so selfish," Mai pouted. Natsuki couldn't quite tell whether she was mocking or just teasing. With murder victims all around, though, there wasn't much point in being optimistic. "Actually," she resumed, "there are a couple of things which I still haven't quite figured out."

"What makes you believe we would give you the answer to them, Natsuki?" Shizuru asked.

"Well, first, that was kind of the whole point of this charade, wasn't it, Shizuru? Leave the poem, have people die, leave the rest of us running around trying to figure out what the hell this whole mess was about? You could have gotten over with this inside of twelve hours if you wanted to just murder us all. This getup with the poem and that novel that Alyssa-chan talked about just made it take longer…long enough for me to figure most of it out."

"I suppose that is, Natsuki." Shizuru let out a soft chuckle. "Very well, Natsuki. I believe you are entitled to the answers you seek."

"Uh, _kaichou-san_?" Mai turned to Shizuru and asked. "Isn't it usually the case that telling the hero what all this is about means the hero will win against impossible odds?"

"Perhaps, but if that should pass, I think Natsuki will have deserved it. Besides, Natsuki being the one with the gun means she does not face impossible odds."

"Oh. OK." Mai decided to keep quiet about the fact that Natsuki's odds looked more than slightly plausible.

"First thing," Natsuki began. "Where do Mikoto and Takumi fit into this? Did you just run out of labels and stuck them between Sister and her?" She pointed to Mai.

Shizuru shook her head and smiled. "They are there in the poem, Natsuki."

"Where? Midori and Sister are the sacrificed lambs, and then it moves right on to the two trinities."

Shizuru kept smiling. "Repeat what you just said."

Natsuki raised an eyebrow. "Midori and Sister are the sacrificed –"

"Stop," Shizuru interrupted. Natsuki said nothing. After a few seconds, Shizuru said, "Say it again."

"Midori and Sister are the sacrificed –"

"Stop."

"What are you…?" Natsuki trailed off as the realization dawned on her. Midori and the Sister weren't sacrificed lambs, they were just sacrificed. Takumi and Mikoto were lambs. That would explain the postmodernist pose their bodies were put in. "Oh, that's cheap, Shizuru. Cheap."

"But it works, doesn't it?" Mai replied.

"Oh, that was your idea?" Natsuki asked.

"Actually, no. It was hers." She pointed to the far side of the room, where Miyu stood in the doorway.

"Holy –" Natsuki instinctively turned the gun towards Miyu, who made no reaction. "When the hell did she get there?!"

"I have been positioned here for the past three minutes and 46.2 seconds," Miyu answered.

"You do not seem surprised that Miyu-san is present and in one piece," Shizuru observed.

"Yeah, Takumi said something before about Miyu possibly telling falsehoods wouldn't leave my head." Natsuki took another step backwards, towards the open tunnel door, while keeping the other three in her field of vision.

"What I have said are not false, Kuga-san," Miyu countered. "Evaluating your deduction of the poem as a proximate study, I believe you are capable of piecing together the perpetrators of the events of the past two months."

Natsuki nodded. "Yeah, I think I can." She directed her voice towards the staircase. "Just as soon as Midori comes out," she added.

"Damn, you're good," Midori replied as she walked down the stairs into Natsuki's view. "I thought I was being quiet enough up there," she added as she reached the bottom step.

"How did you know?" Shizuru asked.

"If Miyu's in on this, she has to as well. Otherwise, Midori would have won last night long before the whole tumbling off the cliff thing."

"Are you suggesting that my combat capabilities are inferior to Sugiura-sensei?" Miyu asked. Mai swore she heard offense in her tone of voice.

"I am suggesting that Midori knows how to neutralize you, especially if your heavy weaponry has been disabled. If you are involved and she wasn't, she would not have given you the opportunity to escape once Sister had been freed."

"Well, it's good know someone appreciates the extent of my skills," Midori boasted proudly.

"Shut up, Midori," Natsuki replied, swinging her gun towards her.

The inflated sense of self proved fleeting for Midori. "You always know how to ruin my fun," she muttered.

"I gotta ask you, though."

"Ask what?"

Natsuki was about to speak, but then closed her mouth. "Never mind, it's not important."

Mai stuck her head closer to Natsuki in an exaggerated way, like she would in telling Mikoto to do her homework. "Are you sure?"

"Uh, yeah?"

Mai laughed. "Your deduction skills are great, Kuga, but your ability to lie is awful as always."

"Ara, you are thinking about Nao-chan, aren't you, Natsuki?" Shizuru chimed in. "You must be wondering why one of us is not currently trying to stop her from escaping."

"I…No I wasn't!"

"You are lying, Kuga-san," Miyu deadpanned.

"You're not helping!" Natsuki shot back.

"I am forced to help them, Kuga-san, not you."

"Rhetorical statement, Miyu."

"I see."

"Eh, we got it covered," Midori said with a dismissive wave. "She'll be taken care of."

"_Shit,"_ Natuski thought. "_Is there a fifth person in on this? Damn, I need a Plan B._" She removed her focus from Midori and kept her eyes within sight of all four. By this point, with too many targets, her gun had been lowered. She kept it in her hands, though, ready to aim and, if necessary, shoot. Meanwhile, she kept running plans in her head, trying to figure out what she can do while keeping a calm demeanor. "_No choice. I have to hope that five was too complicated for them." _She rushed to find a topic to keep them in the recreation room. "So, uh…there's still something else that bothers me about that poem. You know, if you're still willing to humor me here."

"Of course, Natsuki, of course." Shizuru shifted a little to her left so that Natsuki could see her better. "I made a promise, after all."

The eagerness to answer her questions put Natsuki even more on guard, but she went with it. "The poem talked a lot about a wolf and a banshee. I presume that they refer to two of us present here."

"That is only partially correct, Kuga-san."

"What do you mean, 'partially'?"

"The banshee…" Midori began, looking around the room somewhat sheepishly. "Well, I guess you could say all four of us were banshees, or at least those of us that ran around to keep your girlfriend plausibly deniable." When Midori looked back at Natsuki, though, she caught a fleeting glimpse of her mouth closing and her free hand just getting back to its old position. "Yeah, it was kinda cheating," she admitted.

"Not that you wouldn't have figured it out anyway, Natsuki," Mai followed. "I mean, clearly you knew which one of us were it."

"Not soon enough," Natsuki replied somewhat bitterly. "And what about the wolf?"

"Natsuki, I'm disappointed," Shizuru said. "I believe you can deduce who that is."

"What?" Natsuki used the part of her brain not occupied by keeping tabs on the other four to work out what she could mean. A look of shock began to form on to her face when she realized the answer. "You mean…" she said finally.

"You even did the whole lying in wait thing, too," Mai noted. Midori was doing her best not to let out a loud guffaw. Shizuru just smirked.

Natsuki sighed in resignation. "You know me too well."

Silence fell upon them, the tension in the air smothering. "Well, Natsuki," Shizuru said finally. "It appears you have no more questions. What will you do now? We outnumber you, but you hold the gun."

"I was thinking along the lines of knocking off any and all of you that try to get past me to Nao. How's that?"

"You only have one round in the chamber of you pistol, Kuga-san." Miyu stated. "I observed this while you were hiding in the next room. You are incapable of killing all four of us with your pistol. I would advise that you do not consider the physics displayed in _Wanted_ an accurate representation of the real world."

"Damn it, Miyu, it's called a bluff, like what Midori tried to do! Ugh!"

"I have called it." Natsuki growled an unhappy response. "If it would assuage your frustration, Kuga-san, the previous night's events have damaged my structure further. I am, at this moment, approximately as vulnerable as a normal human."

"Finally, some good news today," Natsuki said with much sarcasm.

"Hmm," Midori went. "This presents an interesting dilemma. You're a good shot, and can probably occupy two of us with your close-combat skills. That's three."

"But there's four of you," Natsuki finished. She stepped forward. "Hence the dilemma."

"So what are you going to do?" Midori asked.

"Depends on what you do. So long as you four are here, Nao's safe from your meddling. Long as you guys here, my aim is reached."

"So this isn't about you, then, Natsuki?" Shizuru said. "It's about her. Why you let her go to the cove instead of saving yourself."

"Something like that." Natsuki raised her gun again when Mai moved towards her. "You seriously think I'm not serious, Mai?"

"But we can't stand here forever."

"At the present rate of the current situation, the outcome will be decided by the one who can endure the longest," Miyu stated. "In this case, you will lose, Kuga-san."

"That may be, Miyu, if my goal was my survival."

A moment passed after Natsuki stated her forfeiture of her life. Natsuki turned to Shizuru. "You understand that, don't you?"

"I do, Natsuki," she replied with a nod. Mai and Midori went quiet, with Mai holding a hand to Miyu to tell her to keep quiet as well. "I understand that you care for Nao-chan very much."

"To be honest…there's another reason." Natsuki looked away briefly. "It's…"

"Me. Isn't it, Natsuki?"

"It isn't like you to be so blunt, Shizuru." Natsuki took a deep breath before re-aiming her pistol at Shizuru. "I have one bullet left, Shizuru. But I only need one bullet to finish the job."

"Natsuki…" Shizuru said sadly.

"You have no one to blame but yourself, Shizuru. I know you like you know me; you are the mastermind."

Shizuru managed a sad smile to Natsuki's accusation. "You are correct."

"How you got them to follow you, I don't know. But I don't have enough bullets to stop all of you." Natsuki glanced at her gun briefly before returning to Shizuru. "I have enough to make this decision, though. The last few days have been…something. No, that's an understatement."

"No, Natsuki, _that_ is an understatement," Mai said under her breath.

"But I've been thinking about…me. And you. And Nao."

Shizuru definitely started paying attention now if she hadn't been before. Natsuki's feelings superseding the murder mystery?

"And I've come to a conclusion. I care about Nao. But I also care about you, Shizuru. I've been wanting to deny that you were the one this whole time. But you had to break that fantasy." Natsuki stopped to recollect her nerves. "I don't blame you, Shizuru. These past months – years – of your…feelings for me…it must have been maddening. Maybe that's my fault, especially after the Carnival." Natsuki continued to keep her composure out of desire to keep the others away from Nao, but Mai could start to see the little subtleties in Natsuki's behavior. The slight twitch, the noticeable breathing, the occasional readjustment of her aim. "The way things are now, I can only see a few ways for this to end. And I have picked the ending." For several seconds, no one made a big move until Natsuki glanced at her watch. "It's been long enough for Nao to get out of here. And like you said, Miyu, this can't stay forever."

"So what will you do now, Natsuki?"

She aligned the sights of her pistol with her eye. "Only thing for me to do, Shizuru. There is only one way for this to end."

Shizuru could barely catch a glimpse of Mai rushing over with a panicked look on her face. Her aim moved just as she pulled the trigger.

* * *

Nao froze in her haste to fill up the tank in the jet ski when she heard the distinctively sharp sound of Natsuki's pistol going off. She stopped long enough to make out the faint sound of Shizuru shrieking. It didn't take her long to bring that sound to its logical conclusion.

She needed this gas can to empty. _Now_.

* * *

_So what did just happen? You'll just have to wait for the final chapter. *smirk*_

_Reviews are welcome, as always._


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